My Blog

When I was 11 years old, my grandmother, who I called Bubbie, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Two years prior to that, my great uncle Morrie died of the disease. Two years before that, my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and a few years before that my aunt was also diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

I have witnessed, first hand, the debilitating symptoms of these diseases. With my Uncle Morrie, I only knew him as someone whose speech sounded like moans and hands shook so badly that he could not hold a cup. With my Bubbie, I witnessed the disease from onset of symptoms through death, a 10-year journey. When I was 7, my grandmother wouldn’t let anyone else drive during the 23-hour trip to South Florida from

South Bend

. When I was 17, I attended to her in the bathroom to help her pull up her underwear and pantyhose.

I have watched my aunt go from someone who walks, to someone who walks with a cane, to someone who could walk to her wheelchair, to someone who could walk a few steps to her wheelchair, to someone who needs an aid or two to help her get into her wheel chair. With my mom, the symptoms are more subtle and difficult to decide. A lot of them are also not immediately apparent and she suffers from them in a mini private hell.

So when Rush Limbaugh on his radio show attacked Michael J. Fox by mocking his Parkinson’s Disease symptoms (Rushed flailed his arm and shook for the t.v. audience), I sort of want to go and kick his ass.

But I am not a violent person, so instead I will vent my rage in words and hopefully motivate you to support stem cell research and vote for candidates on Nov. 7 who also support stem cell research.  

In case you haven’t heard, Michael J. Fox has been campaigning for Democrats around the country by appearing in commercials and at political events. In the commercials and at the events, the severity of his symptoms is startling. Michael was diagnosed at age 30 with Parkinson’s and his medication isn’t working very well anymore. Anyone who has lived with someone with a neurological disease knows that while the medication for some can be an incredible feat of science, for others it can be as medically effective as a sweet tart.

Rush Limbaugh initially accused Michael J. Fox of faking his symptoms on the television ads. Limbaugh said that either Fox wasn’t not taking his medication or was acting. Limbaugh apologized for that remark, but told Katie Couric during a phone interview that the Democrats use victims like Fox for political purposes and that it’s a manipulative tactic.

I don’t understand. He’s mad because Michael J. Fox is using his celebrity plus his battle with the disease to campaign for Democrats. Would Rush Limbaugh be opposed to a celebrity, who regretted aborting a fetus, making a commercial detailing her sorrowful experience in order to endorse a Pro Life, Republican candidate? I doubt it.

Now I agree, by putting himself in the public eye, Michael J. Fox opens himself up to criticism. That’s fine. It’s a free country.

However, I agree with his stance on stem cell research because, despite what Conservatives will tell you, unlike water torture, it’s a “no brainer.”

The stem cell research that Conservatives are opposed to is embryonic stem cell research. When a woman attempts to conceive via in vitro fertilization, there are sometimes fertilized eggs not implanted into the uterus. Eventually those eggs are disposed of.

The stem cells from those eggs could possible be used to regenerate the cells that do not exist or are malfunctioning in people with neurological illnesses.

Conservatives say those fertilized eggs are life. The Pro Stem Cell Research community, which includes Nancy Reagan, says if the eggs are life, why are they disposed of, and how could you be more pro life than saving someone’s life with something that would just be thrown away.

The slippery slopers say that this will lead to poor women selling fertilized eggs or worse yet, the cloning of human beings to produce stem cells.

Fine. Outlaw human cloning and selling of fertilized eggs: just like it’s against the law in the

United States

to buy and sell organs. 

Stem cell research may or may not lead to cures for neurological diseases. But how can we know unless the federal government agrees to fund research? There is a commercial in which an actor tells how

California

has spent billions of dollars on stem cell research and a cure is “15 years away.” He uses that as an argument to oppose stem cell research.

As Michael J. Fox told Katie Couric, he had dinner with a 17 year old with Parkinson’s in

Ohio

. If in 15 years the disease would be cured, she would be 32 years old. What about AIDS? Should we stop looking for a cure because it might take time? With that logic, we would still have people in

America

suffering from Polio.

We all need to support the scientific community and demand that the Federal Government fund embryonic stem cell research. Someone in your family will probably be affected some day by one of these illnesses, most likely Alzheimer’s Disease. After you hear about the diagnosis, won’t you kick yourself knowing that you didn’t do anything to promote research to find a cure?

As a famous Rabbi once said:

If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?

Here’s what you can do:

Vote on November 7 for candidates who are Pro Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

Write the President, Senators, and Representatives asking them to support research.

Donate to the Michael J. Fox Foundation

Katie Couric’s interview with Michael J. Fox which motivated me to write this.

This is dedicated to my Bubbie who died on October 31, 1997. She used to say a lot of Yiddish phrases. I liked how she always said: Go in good health and return in good health. She was one of the greatest women I have ever had the privilege to know.