Sen. Hartley Champions Creation of Regional Cord Bank

State Sen. Joan V. Hartley (D-Waterbury) this week testified on behalf of a bill that - at the suggestion of her legislative aide - would create a regional umbilical cord blood bank and cord blood donation education program that could ultimately help find cures for various cancers and diseases.

House Bill 5789, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Hartley, received its public hearing Thursday before the legislature’s Public Health Committee. Public Health Committee co-chairs Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Cheshire) and Rep. Peggy Sayers (D-Windsor Locks) support the bill.

Cord blood, also known as “placental blood,” is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta following birth and after the cord is cut. It’s routinely discarded as medical waste along with the placenta and umbilical cord, even though it is a rich source of stem cells.

“We have had incredible interest and expressions of support for establishing a working group that would create a cord blood bank here in Connecticut. That’s the first order of business,” Sen. Hartley said. “However, we also have some interest from agencies like the state Department of Economic and Community Development in looking at this from a business point of view, because there is an economic component to creating this type of a scientific resource. The benefits of this are multi-faceted, and the opportunity is ripe here in Connecticut.”

The need for a regional cord blood bank was first brought to Sen. Hartley’s attention by her legislative aide, Melissa Roder-Goldschmidt. Roder-Goldschmidt’s mother Ruth passed away from kidney cancer in May 2001; her daughter Rachel was born in January 2004. The closest cord blood bank she could find to donate to was in Florida.

“Two years ago, as my due date was approaching, I kept getting information in the mail regarding saving my cord blood for my personal use,” Roder-Goldschmidt recalls. “That just didn’t seem right to me, because I know cord blood can be used in research to assist people suffering from kidney cancer.”

“It’s kind of a nice tie between grandmother and granddaughter, even though they’ll never meet,” she adds, “and it makes me feel real happy that this cord blood is going toward the common good, that maybe somewhere it will help somebody, and her death will not be in vain.”

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