Experience affects stance in stem-cell debate

Yes, he’s a GOP lawmaker (TX). Yes, he’s against abortion. But as a man with multiple sclerosis, and a father whose daughter died of cancer six years ago, Rep. Rick Hardcastle doesn’t want to see lawmakers put limits on potentially life-saving research. “I am 100 percent for any of the science,” said Hardcastle, who hopes researchers can find an early way to detect the cancer that claimed his daughter. Raising a hand in the air for emphasis, Hardcastle said, “I am anti-abortion.” But he added, “I am fervently anti-waste. . . . Is it not pro-life to use what we’re going to destroy to save lives down the road?” Houston Chronicle