Forwarded message: >From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fri Jun 14 11:37:55 2002 Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-EM-Version: 4, 5, 0, 0 X-EM-Registration: #30C3410514B417038530 Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: "The Joint Steering Committee for Public Policy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Cloning Alert Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 11:28:52 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Cloning, Urgent Action Needed Within the next several days, the United States Senate could debate and vote on legislation that could have a serious impact on the future of biomedical research in the United States. Your help is needed urgently to ensure that this harmful legislation does not prevail. As you know, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) has introduced S.1899, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001. If enacted into law, the Act would ban not just the cloning of human beings, but also ban nuclear transplantation, sometimes referred to as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT), for research with human cells. The Brownback bill imposes criminal penalties of up to ten years in jail and civil fines of at least $1 million on researchers who violate either of these bans. The bill also prohibits treatments and cures developed in other countries using SCNT from being used in the U.S. Senator Brownback is also considering an alternative to S. 1899 - a two-year moratorium on SCNT/human therapeutic cloning research. While this may appeal to some Senators as a compromise, it is in fact a strategy to preclude SCNT indefinitely. A moratorium could ultimately prove as damaging as an outright ban. It is critical that Members of the Untied States Senate hear from the scientific community so that their vote on the Brownback bill can be informed by the facts. It is vitally important that researchers support the Senate's intention to ban the cloning of human beings while opposing any legislation that would criminalize important research. The success of your communication with members of the Senate hinges on your effectiveness in making this distinction and in your providing tangible examples of how SCNT can lead to the prevention and treatment of human disease. This may be the most important public policy issue to face the scientific community in a long time. If this legislation passes, it will not only obstruct important research, but it will also set an ominous precedent by criminalizing a promising scientific method. WHAT CAN YOU DO? 1. Call and/or fax members of the Senate. Let them know you oppose S. 1899 and the two-year moratorium. Indicate your support of S. 2439, sponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA). Their bill, the "Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2002", would ban reproductive cloning to create children, but permit privately funded research involving somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), or therapeutic cloning. This legislation is widely supported among scientific, medical, and patient groups. Email or paper letters alone are not advised. 2. Urge your colleagues to contact their Senators (you may forward this email freely, preferably with your personal endorsement). For information on how to contact your Senator, see http://www.senate.gov/ or call the Capitol Switchboard - 202-224-3121 - and ask to be transferred to your Senator(s). The following documents are available for your reference at http://www.ascb.org/publicpolicy/issues.html#stem. - An ASCB-organized statement signed by 40 Nobel Laureates in opposition to the Brownback bill - The ASCB Position Paper on Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer - A sample letter in opposition to S. 1899 If you have questions, contact Matt Zonarich ([EMAIL PROTECTED] or 301-347-9309) or Michelle Grifka ([EMAIL PROTECTED] or 858-822-1804). Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
