Pro-life Democrat bucks
Catholic Church on stem-cell research
Rick Malwitz, Home News Tribune (NJ) from the Web, May 27, 2004
When the Middlesex County Democrats approached Peter J. Barnes Jr. to run for the Assembly in 1995, some in the party elite were alarmed to learn about his pro-life position.
"Don't say anything about it," he was told.
Barnes, who won the election, and four other elections since, has this to say about abortion:
"It is the ripping out of a living body. There is no defense."
However, on another issue embraced by a majority of pro-life advocates, Barnes has parted company, and it's been a painful experience.
He voted in favor of stem-cell research in New Jersey, angering the Catholic Church elite in Middlesex County.
Barnes was raised in a strong Roman Catholic family, attending Catholic schools through Providence College.
He is a regular attender and giver at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral in Metuchen.
His brother is a priest.
He bristles at the notion that voting for stem-cell research is worthy of condemnation by the Church.
He recalled that at a legislative dialogue last month hosted by the diocese, "The monsignor (Richard Behl) looked at me like I'm a sinner."
It is a complicated issue. Scientists believe stem cells might hold the keys to curing diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's, and repair spinal cord injuries.
There are two sources of stem cells. "Embryonic" stem cells are taken from fertilized eggs discarded in the in-vitro fertilization process.
The primary source of "adult" stem cells are umbilical cords. The Church believes the "embryonic" process is the taking of life.
Although the law prohibits cloning, it permits "somatic cell nuclear transplantation," a process that could result in a cloned human, if a mad scientist placed the embryo in a womb.
For Barnes it was an agonizing choice: Does he buck the Church, or seek the "greater good" and cure diseases?
He opted for the second, drawing on life experiences.
His brother Kenneth, at the age of 9, was diagnosed with polio. His family was "totally devastated."
Kenneth was hospitalized for two years and would have to wear braces on his legs and back.
"I know what it's like for a family to have to go through something like this.
What (stem-cell research) does is give families like mine hope," said Barnes.
He also got a call from Middlesex County Surrogate Kevin Hoagland, paralyzed since 1978 when he suffered a spinal cord injury.
Hoagland called Barnes and Assemblyman Joseph Egan, D-Middlesex, whom he knew to be pro-life Democrats ("almost an oxymoron," says Hoagland).
Hoagland told him how his greatest wish was to one day be able to hold his two children in his arms.
Barnes promised him the 41st vote, if it was needed to ensure passage. When he cast that vote, "I was thinking of Kevin," Barnes said.
To his opponents, Barnes asks: What if research led to a cure of Alzheimer's? Would they allow their elderly parent to take the medicine?
Vincent DePaul Breen, the former bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, suffered from Alzheimer's before his death last year.
"Who wouldn't want to have seen him cured?" said Hoagland.
Said Barnes, "When I think how much my brother suffered, when I think of Kevin . . . that's why I voted."
Rick Malwitz's column appears Sundays and Thursdays. (732) 565-7291; e-mail
rmalwitz@thnt.com.
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