Below is Schakowsky’s statement:

"The President has systematically misrepresented the issue of embryonic stem-cell research as one of abortion.  Perhaps President Bush should listen more carefully to conservative members of his own party, such as the senior Senators from Utah and South Carolina.  He should also listen to the 70 percent of Americans who support this medical research, and believe that this issue should transcend political lines and instead focus on human lives. 

"President Bush, I urge you to listen to what Carolyn Laughlin, the mother of two diabetic sons in my hometown of Evanston, IL, wrote me this past April. 
 

Diabetes haunts my family every waking hour.  Injections, blood testing, calculating food portions, are constant companions of my sons.  Overnight, I fear insulin reactions that will leave them unconscious.  Long term, we face concerns of kidney failure, blindness, and amputations.

"Most scientists are in agreement that embryonic cell-research offers the greatest hope to families like the Laughlins.  The unique characteristics of these cells could be critical to curing the 100 million Americans who suffer, not only from juvenile diabetes, but Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, spinal cord injury, ALS, as well as many other diseases and conditions. 

"Federal funding guidelines assure that research will meet ethical standards and allow advancements to be made as quickly as possible.  I urge the Administration not to stop or hamper embryonic cell-research.  The Laughlins and millions of other families are counting on us."