Don C. Reed

"People must fight for each other", said the lady in the elevator.

She and I had on a twelve-story elevator ride together, and I had just been telling her about my paralyzed son Roman Reed, and our decade-long fight to help California scientists cure paralysis.

We parted at...

Remember "checks and balances" from citizenship class? For a democratic republic to succeed, no single group or class can have unlimited power; checks and balances must exist throughout the system.

Unfortunately, thanks to the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, politics today has plenty of checks -- but precious little balance....

Women are increasingly realizing there may be no place for them in the formerly Grand Old Party, except as second class citizens, their rights defined by an increasingly narrow minority: Ancient White Males. Nothing wrong with being an AWM -- that pretty much describes me -- but the difference is...

As if stamped out of an anti-woman mold, Republican hopefuls Romney, Gingrich, Santorum and Paul all support the cruel and bizarre policy of "personhood," the belief that full legal rights instantly accompany the joining of every sperm and egg.

Voters wishing to see Republican personhood in the process need look...

The resignation of Karen Handel, formerly Vice President for Public Policy of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, is cause for applause for all who support breast cancer research and treatment, and want it unhindered by politics.

But it is important to undo damage Handel may have supported -- especially Komen's...

As a loyal Democrat, I am tempted to keep silent while two anti-science Republican Presidential candidates beat each other up.

Both Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney supported embryonic stem cell research in the past. Both men, attempting to gain political advancement, have flip-flopped on the...

If any of the four Republicans currently threatening to become President had been in office today, America would have missed a chance to return vision to the blind.

What do Romney, Gingrich, Paul and Santorum have in common?

All four have accepted the ludicrous "personhood" stand that full human rights...

Tuesday, November 29th, my paralyzed son Roman Reed and I attended the farewell party of the Geron stem cell research department.

Roman squeezed his wheelchair in beside Chief Scientist Jane Lebkowski, Joe Gold, sixteen years at Geron, and Kate Spink, who had organized the world's first human trials with embryonic...

In what has been described as "the most conservative state in the union," Mississippi voters last night defeated -- no, trashed -- the anti-stem cell, anti-freedom, anti-woman nonsense known as Initiative 26, the Personhood Amendment.

If ever there was a state religious extremists could control and...

For a glimpse into a Republican Religious Right wishlist, check out Amendment 26, in Mississippi.

Does Mississippi need more troubles? This is one of the most impoverished states in the nation. Of the 100 poorest counties in America, 14 are in Mississippi. In this Republican-controlled state, dominated by...

If Wisconsin Republicans get their way, Lou Gehrig's disease will become tougher to cure.

This matters to me. One of my friends, John Ames, worked hard to pass Proposition 71, the California for Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. Like many who gathered signatures to put the initiative on the...

Sherley vs. Sebelius, a lawsuit threatening stem cell research, was thrown out today.

What does this mean?

My paralyzed son Roman Reed and I were in the room when President Obama signed a declaration reversing the Bush doctrine, which had so severely limited stem cell research.
What a...

First, Oregon.

In 2010, the Oregon state budget was three-quarters of a billion ($727 million) in the hole -- a lot for a small state. So did they go with a "cuts-only" budget, i.e. shut down schools and services and to Hell with the poor?

No, they just...

The party of the elephant increasingly claims the Almighty as a sort of Divine campaign manager, invariably agreeing with their political advancement.

This deserves examination.

For example, Minnesota Republicans just let their state government shut down, rather than allow a 1% tax on millionaires. Was that God's...

There is a place you will not find on any map. It has no physical location. But it is real nonetheless, and a danger to all mankind.

It is the Valley of Death, where new medicines die.

May 4th, 2011. Gloria and I were sitting in the meeting hall of...

As you read this, I am probably on the road to Sacramento, driving to the state capitol to pester the politicians one more time before they vote. More accurately, I hope to be talking to the legislative aides, the behind-the-scenes folks who so often determine the success or failure of...

On May 27th, in Sacramento, California, there will be a legislative forest fire. In the Appropriations committee, dozens of good bills will be considered. Most will die.

Assembly Bill 190 (Wieckowski, D-Fremont) -- our bill to fight paralysis -- must survive.

But first, a question about a real-life...

"He is right here," said Pranav's mother, in her lilting Indian accent; "would you like to speak to him?"

For a moment I was actually afraid; I don't know why.

Pranav had Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) a disease like a slow spinal cord injury. Like the paralysis which afflicts my...

Before his van crashed, Roman Reed was having a great day.

He was driving home after giving a speech at the University of California at Irvine, about the new bill (Assembly Bill 190, Wieckowski, D-Fremont) to fund the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act.

Some great scientists had...

A $3 fine tacked onto every reckless driving ticket in California could mean $11,000,000 a year for spinal cord injury research for cure -- IF Assembly Bill 190 passes the Public Safety committee hearing at the Sacramento State Capitol, April 5th.

If AB 190 passes, money will be put into...