Stem-cell issue is OK on ballot, N.J. court rules

TRENTON - Abortion foes yesterday lost another bid to stop New Jersey voters from deciding whether to borrow $450 million for stem-cell research.

An appeals court unanimously ruled the Nov. 6 ballot question was fair, rejecting claims that it improperly failed to explain that the money allegedly would fund human cloning and be paid back through property taxes.

The three-judge panel rejected those claims as baseless and said that including such information on the ballot would make the question too lengthy and confusing to voters.

The opinion, written by Judge Clarkson S. Fisher Jr., found that arguments over stem-cell research were better left to campaigning.

"Further debate about the meaning of the act and its moral, fiscal and medical consequences is better left to the exchange of ideas and the political efforts of interested citizens," he wrote.

Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, which filed suit against the question, said the group may appeal to the state Supreme Court.

"We obviously disagree and believe legislative sponsors did the voters a great disservice," Tasy said.

Gov. Corzine, who approved the ballot question in July, said he was pleased by the ruling.

"I thought it was a misplaced or miscast challenge and I think the courts pretty overwhelmingly came to that conclusion," said Corzine.

It was the second legal setback for abortion foes opposed to investing public money in stem-cell research that destroys human embryos.

Superior Court Judge Neil H. Shuster initially dismissed the lawsuit last month, deeming the ballot question "fair, balanced and neutral" and noting that state law bans human cloning.

Corzine, legislators and others contend the borrowing could help produce cures for spinal-cord injuries, diabetes, Parkinson's disease and other ailments, while attracting and retaining top scientists and research companies to New Jersey.

New Jersey awarded $10 million in grants from the state budget earlier this year and is spending $270 million to build stem-cell research institutes.