With election day only 10 days away, the Stem Cell Research debate has resurfaced in the news. A few months ago, President Bush vetoed a bill that would have allowed federal funding for stem cell research. Now, Michael J. Fox has ignited the debate in a Missouri TV ad, and is supporting the candidacy of Clair McCaskill for the United States Senate. McCaskill supports federal funding of this research. The ultimate goal in of all of this is to eventually overturn Bush's veto on federal funding for stem cell research by working to elect Senators who support this issue.

I do not have a problem with stem cell research, and it would not bother me if my tax dollars were used to fund this research, especially if it saves lives. But that is not really the point here. There are many Americans who feel that this research is morally wrong, and the destruction of human embryos for scientific purposes is murder. I can understand their position and do not believe they are trying to take away the hope of a better life for Michael J. Fox and others. Only they can set their own moral compass, and if they feel such research is wrong then they have every right to that belief.

What bothers me is that if the government authorized federal funding for stem cell research, it would mean that those who felt it was morally wrong would be forced to contribute their tax dollars to the process. This is a fundamental issue to many Americans. To some, it would be state sanctioned murder that they would knowingly be paying for. Now, as I said before, these are not my beliefs. They are the beliefs, though, of a lot of Americans who are basically good and decent people and would be forced to subsidize this process. And they would forevermore have to live with that on their conscience.

Stem cell research can be conducted in private labs and institutions. And anyone who wants to pay to subsidize the process is free to do so. But supporters of federal funding for this research want to take this a step further. They want to take tax dollars which come from all Americans and use this money to fund the research. In other words, it's not enough to use their own money. They want to use other people's money. And if you don't agree to let them use other people's money, then they call you the bad guy. That's what bothers me the most about this issue -- forcing all Americans to subscribe to their view, to the point of forcing them to subsidize the process.

I hope stem cell research yields some results that help people such as Michael J. Fox. But I don't want someone being forced to pay for it against their will.