Dr. James C. Dobson
Founder and Chairman
Focus on the Family
8605 Explorer Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80995

Dear Dr. Dobson:

We were deeply shocked by your August 3rd Focus on the Family broadcast where you compared embryonic stem-cell research to the experimentation performed on human victims by Nazi doctors during World War II.

There is no legitimate comparison between stem-cell research, which seeks to find a cure for disease and to counter human suffering, and the perversion of science and morality represented by the actions of Nazi doctors who deliberately tortured their victims in medical "experiments" on human beings, including young children and the disabled.

While reasonable, decent people may legitimately differ in their views of embryonic cell research, it is a gross distortion -- and an offensive misuse of the Holocaust - to compare stem-cell research to the hideous barbarities of Nazi pseudo-science. Your suggestion that the Nazi experiments could have resulted in "discoveries … that benefited mankind" is especially odious to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who lost relatives and loved ones as a result of those horrific experiments.

We believe you owe those survivors, their families and anyone who may be offended by your statements an apology. We urge you to immediately repudiate your remarks, which debase the serious public discussion on stem-cell research and trivialize the Holocaust.