Colorado's effort to save stem-cell research

The Denver Post reports that Colorado House Rep. Dianne Primavera has introduced HB 1372 to create a state fund to support the collection of umbilical cord blood for stem cell treatment and research. When a child is born, the blood that is in the umbilical cord is rich with young stem cells. Normally this becomes medical waste, but a physician can draw the blood from the cord to be analyzed and preserved for later use. For many diseases a cord blood transfusion can replace the long painful process of a bone marrow transplant. This type of stem cell research is much less controversial but drastically underfunded.

Parents can pay private companies (such as Viacord) to store cord blood for their children, or they can freely donate for public use. Some hospitals have started asking laboring moms if they would like to donate their child's cord blood because the supply is so low. It just amazes me that because the phrase "stem cells" has gotten a negative connotation, a wonderful life-saving process is being ignored...