Judge Approves Ballot Initiative in Missouri

Judge Approves Ballot Initiative in Missouri

A Missouri judge ruled yesterday, at the end of a day of testimony, that the title for a proposed ballot initiative amending the state constitution to allow all stem cell research not prohibited by federal law was not deceptive. Supporters of the initiative, the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, said they would begin to gather signatures immediately. According to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the opponents who filed the lawsuit said that the ballot language of “no person may clone or attempt to clone a human being” was deceptive, in that somatic cell nuclear transfer would still be permissible.

According to an AP story on the Kansas City Channel,

"I have read this ballot initiative over and over again," [Judge Byron] Kinder said after presiding over several hours of testimony. "Most of what I heard today goes to the issue of what you have to convince voters. The ballot title is sufficient and fair and the language is neutral."

The Post-Dispatch reported that he stayed away from the issues of ethics and kept his ruling to the more narrow issue of the language. He heard arguments about the meaning of the word “cloning” but curtailed discussion on the ethics.

Of course the issue of language is not an insignificant one at all, since language is the primary tool by which people communicate, persuade, appeal, and interact. In law many legal arguments depend upon the way a word is defined and what is encompasses and what it excludes. This ruling (which may yet be appealed) sets a precedent for the use of the word “cloning” as meaning reproductive cloning only, and may well become important in other cases across the US.