The antiabortion group Legal Center for the Defense of Life on Tuesday in a New Jersey court filed a lawsuit seeking to halt a Nov. 6 referendum asking voters to approve borrowing $450 million over 10 years to fund stem cell research in the state, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports (Hester, AP/Long Island Newsday, 9/18).

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) in July signed a bill authorizing the referendum. The Assembly in June voted 50-27 and the Senate 31-3 to approve the legislation. If approved by voters, the funds would be used to award grants to institutions -- including colleges, universities, and state and local government agencies -- that conduct research on both adult and human embryonic stem cells and umbilical cord blood, according to state Rep. Neil Cohen (D).

Some abortion-rights opponents oppose the referendum because it involves destroying human embryos, while supporters of the proposal say the research could advance medical treatments and attract researchers to the state. Borrowing for stem cell research could increase the state's debt by as much as $37 million annually, according to a nonpartisan legislative analysis (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/27).

Lawsuit
The suit -- which was filed on behalf of New Jersey Right to Life and 15 New Jersey residents in Trenton, N.J., Superior Court -- alleges the ballot question is deceiving because it does not explain that the borrowed funds would pay for human cloning or that the debt could be repaid with property taxes, the AP/Newsday reports. The suit seeks to stop printing of the ballot and to bar the question from going to voters.

Cohen said the arguments in the suit are "specious and are grasping at straws," adding there is no "legal basis" for the suit. Cohen added that language stating that property taxes could be used to repay debt is standard in state borrowing plans. Brendan Gilfillan, a spokesperson for Corzine, said the suit "appears to be a political and ideological statement rather than a legal argument."

Marie Tasy, executive director of NJRTL, said that although the bill would bar using money on human cloning, it still would allow researchers to create and experiment on embryos. She added that the Legislature should limit funding to adult stem cell research that does not involve destruction of embryos and should explain to women the risks of donating embryos for research. "There is a very real potential for exploiting New Jersey women -- especially poor, minority and college-aged women -- who will be offered financial incentives to donate their eggs for cloning research," Tasy said (AP/Long Island Newsday, 9/18).