Claims Department: Governor

SPONSOR

Beverly Perdue campaign

WHAT THE AD SAYS

AUDIO: Perdue speaks: "I'm Bev Perdue. I'm running for governor, and I sponsored this ad."

Then Sarah Witt, a Raleigh woman who suffers from paralysis because of primary lateral sclerosis, says: "I used to run marathons, but not anymore. A motor neuron disease has already taken away my ability to walk and to speak. But it hasn't taken away my ability to hope. Hope that stem cell research will let me see my kids grow up. I know Bev Perdue supports stem cell research. She believes in hope, and I believe in her."

IMAGES: The ad shows still photos of Witt running before she was paralyzed and then Witt in a wheelchair, using a computer voice box to narrate. The screen goes black with text that says, "Bev Perdue supports stem cell research."

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS

Witt says in the ad that she knows Perdue supports stem cell research, but it would have been hard to tell before the commercial was made.

Perdue's campaign could not produce any evidence that she made a public statement regarding stem cell research before her campaign for governor.

The campaign's proof that she was engaged in "activity" regarding stem cells included: a September 2006 policy briefing paper that was distributed among Perdue's staff and a copy of the agenda from a meeting two months later of a special legislative committee examining the issue, indicating that a Perdue staffer attended.

State Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat, said Perdue played no role in the drafting of his bill for stem cell research funding that passed the state House in 2007, even though the money would come through the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund that she leads.

Jones said Perdue did call after the House passage, offering to help in the Senate, where she serves as president and presides over the daily session.

The bill, which arrived near the end of the legislative session, never got out of committee, and there was no evidence offered of Perdue's speaking out, writing a letter or otherwise publicly advocating for the bill.

IS THE AD ACCURATE?

Yes.

SPONSOR

Beverly Perdue campaign

WHAT THE AD SAYS

AUDIO: Perdue speaks: "I'm Bev Perdue. I'm running for governor, and I sponsored this ad."

Then Sarah Witt, a Raleigh woman who suffers from paralysis because of primary lateral sclerosis, says: "I used to run marathons, but not anymore. A motor neuron disease has already taken away my ability to walk and to speak, but it hasn't taken away my ability to hope. Hope that stem cell research will let me see my kids grow up. So when I hear politicians like Pat McCrory say he wants to ban embryonic stem cell research, I ask myself, how can he be against hope?"

IMAGES: The ad shows still pictures of Witt running before she was paralyzed. Then it shows Witt in a wheelchair, narrating by typing on a computer voice box. The ad ends with text that says, "Pat McCrory wants to ban embryonic stem cell research." Then the ad ends with text that says, "Pat McCrory: More extreme than you think."

WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS

Scientists consider embryonic stem cells to be a potential source of new treatments for Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and Lou Gehrig's disease, which are currently incurable.

Opponents condemn the research because it requires the destruction of a human embryo, but supporters argue that the embryos are those that fertility clinics are going to destroy anyway.

Congress banned the use of federal funds for any experiment that destroys a human embryo. Some states have also banned the practice, while others, such as California, are supporting it with state tax dollars.

North Carolina currently does not subsidize or ban embryonic stem cell research.

During the Republican gubernatorial primary, the N.C. Family Policy Council, a nonpartisan group that advocates for Judeo-Christian values, sent a questionnaire to McCrory and other candidates.

One of the questions was about stem cell research: "Should the stem cells of a human embryo be used for research purposes when the act of obtaining the stem cells results in the destruction of the human embryo?"

McCrory answered "no."

He later said that he supports stem cell research using adult cells or amniotic cells, neither of which involve embryos, but scientists contend those forms of research, while promising, have not yielded nearly the same level of progress.

IS THE AD ACCURATE?

It's a stretch. Perdue's campaign cannot produce evidence that McCrory ever said he would ban embryonic stem cell research. When asked later, McCrory strategist Jack Hawke confirmed that McCrory, as governor, would support legislation that prohibited stem cell research in which the embryo was destroyed. Perdue's campaign gambled on that being the answer but had no proof when it produced the ad.