Michigan's Current Law     

On Nov. 4, 2008, Michigan voters approved Proposal 2 which amended the state constitution, overturning a 1978 Michigan law that prohibited the use of human embryos for research, even if those embryos were to be discarded. The passage of Proposal 2 gave hope to millions of Michigan patients and their families. It also freed our state’s world-renowned researchers to utilize their formidable talents and use stem cell research to solve biological mysteries that have stymied mankind.

The new law makes Michigan one of just three states that protect stem cell research in the state constitution. The change allows Michigan researchers to derive new embryonic stem lines, using procedures already employed in laboratories around the world. The new state law allows the use of human embryos for research that is already permitted and regulated under federal law, provided that the embryos:

• Were created for the purpose of fertility treatment
• Would otherwise have been discarded, either because they were not suitable for clinical use or because they were no longer needed
• Were donated through informed, written consent by the person seeking fertility treatment without any payment
• Came from eggs fertilized for 14 days or less

Michigan’s ban on human (reproductive) cloning was not altered by Proposal 2 and remains in full effect.

Additional protective regulations are in place because federal requirements state that any institution or organization that conducts any research using human subjects must have an Internal Review Board (IRB) to review approve and monitor all research projects to ensure ethical requirements are met. The IRB rules and regulations are precise and do not allow exploitation.

Michigan research organizations are equally in compliance with the National Academies’ requirement for Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) Committees. This provides an added layer of regulation specific to embryonic stem cell research. ESCRO Committees:

• Provide oversight over all derivation and use of embryonic stem cell lines
• Review and approve the scientific merit of research protocols
• Review compliance of in-house embryonic stem cell research with regulations & guidelines
• Maintain registries of embryonic stem cell research conducted at the institution and embryonic stem cell lines derived or imported

On March 9, 2009, President Obama signed an executive order allowing the federal government to invest millions of dollars in new embryonic stem cell research. The passage of Prop 2 positioned Michigan researchers to compete for the funding to do that work. The winners from this extraordinary shift in our state’s stem cell paradigm are the patients who are anxiously awaiting cures and treatments to improve their lives.

WHAT CHANGED IN MICHIGAN AFTER NOV. 4, 2008?
On November 4, 2008 Michigan voters chose to amend the state’s constitution to allow a broader range of embryonic stem cell research. Read the actual language adopted as Article 1, Section 27 of the Michigan State Constitution here.

 

IS STEM CELL RESEARCH REGULATED?
Some people have expressed concern about whether stem cell research is regulated. Regulation for ALL research exists at international, national, state, university and institutional levels. Regulation protects society by establishing ethical practices, protecting patient safety and ensuring medical effectiveness, while allowing science to proceed with appropriate oversight.

To learn more about how stem cell research is regulated, go to the Regulation and Ethics section of our FAQs. There you will find the answers to:

1. Is stem cell research regulated?
2. How is research regulated?
3. Is the FDA involved in this research?
4. What is bioethics?
5. What do researchers say to those who believe that life begins at conception, and anything that interferes with the embryo’s development is morally wrong?
6. Is there any form of stem cell research that the science community agrees should stay off limits?