Mike Malott and Kristofer Karol
Daily Press & Argus

Livingston County, for many years a hotbed of right-to-life sentiment, nonetheless voted Tuesday to approve Proposal 2, a ballot question to loosen restrictions on embryonic stem cell research in Michigan.

With 94 percent of the vote counted, Proposal 2 was passing in Livingston County by a margin of 46,482 yes votes to 41,420 nos. Statewide, Michigan voters approved Proposal 2.

Conservative Livingston County also joined the rest of the state in approval to Proposal 1, which would allow for medical use of marijuana, despite unified opposition from the law enforcement community. With 94 percent of the vote counted, Proposal 1 was passing in Livingston County 55,112 to 32,676.

Still, the vote for Proposal 2 was a surprise to Marilyn Hysen, Regional Education Coordinator for Michigan Citizens for Stem Cell Research & Cures, the group which advocated for passage of the constitutional amendment.

Every Republican candidate for state and national office had stated during the debates sponsored by the Daily Press & Argus, both in the primary and general elections, that they were opposed to Proposal 2 because of their right-to-life stance on abortion.

Hysen said she had hoped voters would make a distinction between the two issues because, “Proposal 2 has nothing to do with the abortion issue.”

Still, she said she had been afraid before Tuesday’s election that the public would vote the proposal down because the Michigan Catholic Conference had put “a surprising amount of money and effort” into the opposition campaign, a campaign Hysen described as “rife with untruth.”

Describing herself as a “recovering Republican,” Hysen said she hoped the vote would “give more moderate Republicans some cover ... I think many felt they had to be against it.”

“I hope this provides some cover to moderate Republicans so they don’t feel they have to be so regimented, so lockstep with Right-to-Life.”

While it appears many voters in conservative Livingston County were willing to accept embryonic stem cell research, don’t expect the same from the two state representatives elected Tuesday night.

“They voted on it, so I have to abide by the electorate,” said Republican Bill Rogers, who was on his way to a win in the 66th District Tuesday evening. “I’m disappointed. I will not be a proponent of funding via the state.”

Republican Cindy Denby, who was on her way to a win in the 47th District, also said she would stand by her decision to oppose the measure.

“I just thought the way it was written leads to potentially a lot of problems,” Denby said.

“We’ll see what the final numbers are,” she said, remaining optimistic voters would oppose the proposal.

Proposal 2 would change state law to allow people to donate embryos left over from fertility treatments for scientific research. Those embryos, which may or may not be suitable for implantation, would otherwise be thrown away as medical waste.