Congressman Chris Smith Shows the Personal Side of Stem Cell Research
Source: ABC News; July 9, 2001

Congressman Chris Smith Shows the Personal Side of Stem Cell Research

Washington, DC -- There is a lot at stake in the debate over embryonic
stem cell research. The president faces tremendous cross-pressures on this
issue. And it's not just politics; it's personal.

Mark and Luke Borden, 9-month-old twins, are two of the human faces of the
stem cell debate. They were adopted when they were frozen embryos.

Their biological parents gave the unborn children to Lucinda and John
Borden, who had tried unsuccessfully for years to have children.

"Adoption is respect for life," says Lucinda Borden. "And putting these
children up for adoption is a much better way to respect that life than
donating them for research and killing them off."

The Bordens have become the poster family for pro-life organizations
trying to cut off federal funding for research on stem cells derived from
cryogenically frozen embryos.

"We need to look at these cryogenic tanks as frozen orphanages rather than
some kind of material that scientists can manipulate for whatever reason
they would like to," says Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.