00:00Congress is working to provide another five years of funding to the federal programs which oversee bone marrow and placenta donations and banks.
00:08Bipartisan lawmakers say these programs have saved well over 100,000 lives over the last 20 years.
00:15The bill authorizes $280 million for the programs through 2031.
00:21Sponsors of the bill say it's important that the federal government collect marrow and blood donations
00:25and work to connect donors with patients in order to facilitate life-saving and innovative treatment.
00:31God, in his wisdom, created a placenta and an umbilical cord to nurture, protect the precious life of an unborn child.
00:39But now we find he left behind a great gift, a placenta, umbilical cord, and stem cells that are teeming with life-preserving and life-enhancing properties.
00:53Congresswoman Doris Matsui lost her husband to bone marrow cancer.
00:57At the time, there weren't any treatments available.
01:00She says that inspired her to make sure these programs are successful.
01:03No patient ever has to hear what my husband and I heard, that there are no options.
01:11That, to me, is the worst possible words to hear.
01:16When Congress was working to create these programs, skeptics said no one would be willing to donate bone marrow or stem cells to a stranger.
01:24Twenty years later, more than 140,000 donations have been made.
01:28Stem cell research and therapy has been seen as controversial because some cells are derived from the fetal tissue obtained from abortions.
01:37The sponsors of this bill say there are no ethical issues with placentas because they are donated after the baby is born.
01:44This is absolutely non-controversial, absolutely ethical.
01:49I mean, it is the afterbirth that is medical waste that used to be discarded that is now being turned into medical miracles.
01:57The placental tissue and umbilical cord blood can treat more than 75 diseases, including certain cancers and blood disorders.
02:05The potential is enormous, and it's all incredibly ethical, and it's recycling biologic material that, like we've all said, used to be just thrown away.
02:16I'm Ray Bogan for Straight Arrow News.
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