later became well known asthe La Roza case. In their report on a transplantation offetal tissue substantia nigra, the tissue was transplanted inthe caudate nucleus of a fifty-year old male with a nine yearhistory with Parkinson's disease. Prior to thetransplantation procedure, he was suffering from severesymptoms associated with the latter stages of the Parkinson'sdisease, particularly severe muscle rigidity and tremor. Three months after the transplant there was considerableimprovement in his tormenting symptoms. As a result of theprocedure, his ridgedness and tremors decreased noticeably. Also, the patient was able to control his remaining symptomswith a much lower dosage of medication then before. In response to the apparent success of the La Rozatransplants and initial hints of a possible breakthrough curefor Parkinson's disease, US medical scientists had decided tojoin the race to cure this terribly debilitating ailmentthrough fetal neuro-tissue transplants. They realized,however, that any truly legitimate effort would requirefederal funding. It was the request from the NationalInstitute of Health (NIH) for funding for human fetal tissuetransplantation research that ignited intense researches intothe procedure of fetal tissue transplantation in the UnitedStates.With this tremendous breakthrough in biomedical sciencethat may someday relieve the suffering of millions of peoplewith various neurological inflections came great controversy. Intense moral and ethical debates surround the use of fetaltissue for research and transplantation procedures. Debatesbegan soon after the United State Supreme Court legalizedabortion in Roe v. Wade and continues to this day with debatein congress concerning the passage of the Morris K. Udall Bill, which upon passage will provide one-hundred milliondollars a year for Parkinson's disease research.In March 1988, Robert Windom, a strong Right to Lifesupporter, rejected the NIH's funding request and ...
