Testimony of Charles Halpern, Public Interest Attorney and Member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences
By Charles Halpern,
Testimony to California Senate Subcommittee
| 03. 09. 2005
Oversight Hearing on the Implementation of Proposition 71, the Stem Cell Research and Cures Act
Joint Hearing of the California Senate Subcommittee on Stem Cell Research Oversight, Senate Health Committee, and Assembly Health Committee
Testimony of Charles Halpern, Public Interest
Attorney and Member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academy
of Sciences
Oversight Hearing on the Implementation of Proposition 71,
the Stem Cell Research and Cures Act
Joint Hearing of the California Senate Subcommittee on Stem
Cell Research Oversight, Senate Health Committee, and Assembly
Health Committee
March 9, 2005
SUMMARY
This Oversight Hearing is an important milestone in the California
effort to assume leadership in the field of stem cell research.
Active legislative engagement with the California Institute
for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is essential for this initiative
to succeed.
The Independent Citizen’s Oversight Committee (ICOC) has
met four times since the passage of Proposition 71. While the
ICOC has made some important decisions, it still must lay a
solid foundation for its grants program. Grant guidelines and
an operating budget must be developed. The conflict of interest
problem, which affects all aspects of the ICOC process, must
be addressed in a serious fashion.
I encourage the Senate Oversight Subcommittee to take the following
steps:
Establish a regular schedule of oversight hearings, every two
or...
Related Articles
What We Inherit by Sam Trejo and Daphne O. Martschenko; and Original Sin by Kathryn Paige Harden have a great deal in common, with substantial differences in style and emphasis. Both books attempt, in different ways, to show the reader just where current research into human genomics stands, where that might be going, and why the authors are interested. In short, the influence of genomic research on our societies is already large and seems likely to change them in ways...
By Dan Falk, Nautilus | 08.20.2026
The pseudoscience of eugenics, founded on the mistaken notion that nature envisions some “right” combination of genes, and that selective breeding can improve the human race, is making a comeback. While the heyday of eugenics was a century ago, the...
By Anna Louie Sussman, The New York Times | 08.21.2026
Since in vitro fertilization was invented nearly 50 years ago, at least 10 million children who would not otherwise exist have been brought into the world. New constellations of families — older moms, same-sex parents, single dads — have flourished...
By Jenni Fink, Newsweek | 08.19.2026
“Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
President Donald Trump's latest effort to limit birthright citizenship could have consequences for the international surrogacy industry, potentially affecting thousands of intended parents from overseas who travel...
