AB-52 "Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program"

Dear Friends and Supporters:

The Joanne Pang Foundation is pleased to lend its support to legislation pending in the California State Assembly which aims to increase public cord blood banking.

This bill “Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program,” referred to as AB-52, would raise the fee for certified birth certificates by $2. This modest increase would generate $3 million per year and support California's pioneering Umbilical Cord Blood Program. This legislation dovetails with the Foundation's long-standing interest in saving lives by increasing the number of cord blood donors. A non-controversial source of stem cells, cord blood is a lifesaving gift we cannot afford to continue to throw away.

Assemblyman Anthony Portantino has sponsored a bill which just passed the Assembly Health Committee and will soon be coming before Appropriations for consideration. On behalf of the Foundation's board of directors, I encourage you to write to individual members of the Appropriations Committee (see link below with embedded email addresses) to express your support of AB-52.

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/newcomframeset.asp?committee=43

As you are aware, cord blood has the capacity to heal more than 70 blood-related diseases. Traditionally discarded as biological waste, cord blood is now seen as providing medical miracles. The Joanne Pang Foundation seeks to increase the public cord blood donor pool, especially to benefit ethnic and racial minorities who are currently poorly represented in the national registry. The Foundation has been actively engaged in building awareness and capacity for public banking.

This bill helps provide much-needed funding for cord blood collection at no cost to the donor mother, a goal we strongly support. Ultimately, we hope that this new source of state money can be directed in part to the Northern California Umbilical Cord Blood Bank at UCSF Children's Hospital.

We hope you will take a few moments to write to these state legislators to let them know you back this bill. Additionally, you may wish to write to the Majority Whip Fiona Ma who is District 12's representative.

Her email is: Assemblymember.Ma@assembly.ca.gov

Another available method to comment on a bill in the Assembly or Senate is through this link:

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm

Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,


Joseph