Florida

After President George W. Bush restricted federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to existing stem cell lines in 2001, most of the action on the issue moved to the states. That action was energized in 2005 when the president cast his first veto against a bill to enhance such research. Over the next several years, a plethora of states saw opposing sides waging pitched battles in legislatures and in citizens’ campaigns to influence legislative action. Only in Florida did the conflict result in two proposed constitutional amendments that could have thrown the stem cell issue into the courts. While the political battle was making history, scientists at Florida’s established research universities and some prestigious research institutes new to the state were engaged in stem ...