Gibson is Catholic and he directed "The Passion of the Christ," the controversial movie that chronicles the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ.

Gibson said he was initially ecstatic when he first heard about Prop 71, but later changed his mind when he learned about what he called an "unethical" research method.

Gibson said he called California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Wednesday night to talk about the issue and that the governor told him he had to make a speech and would call him back.

Speaking on camera, he said, "Well, Arnold, I'm still waiting for your call."

Schwarzenegger recently broke ranks with the Republican Party to announce his support for the measure.

© 2004 Associated Press.

Here is the text of Mel Gibson's TV commercial, in his own voice:

Research on adult and umbilical cord stem cells have led to cures in 300,000 cases. But that’s not what Proposition 71 is about.

This is Mel Gibson and I’m concerned that the people aren’t fully informed about Prop 71.

We have a lot of questions to ask, like why are we being misled into thinking Prop 71 isn’t about cloning, when it is?

That’s what it says: "Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer," and that’s a scientific term for cloning.

If cloning human embryos for destruction is so promising, why aren’t private companies paying the $6 billion?

Because in 23 years embryonic stem cell research has not produced a single human cure. All it yielded is tumors, rejections and mutations.

See, that science doesn’t atttract venture capital, so why should the taxpayers be bled dry?

This is Mel Gibson. I’m voting no on Prop 71.

Creating life simply to destroy it is wrong, particularly when there are effective alternatives readily available.

Editor's note: