List members,
The following action alert is forwarded from the Coalistion for the
Advancement of Medical Research.
Please read and contact your Senators and the White House.
A summary of the President's  Boethics Council report can be found at:
http://www.bioethics.gov/cloningreport/execsummary.html

In the report 2 opposing recommendations were reported -

"Majority Recommendation: Ten Members of the Council recommend a ban on
cloning-to-produce-children combined with a four-year moratorium on
cloning-for-biomedical-research. We also call for a federal review of
current and projected practices of human embryo research,
pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, genetic modification of human embryos
and gametes, and related matters, with a view to recommending and shaping
ethically sound policies for the entire field."

This position is supported by Council Members Rebecca S. Dresser, Francis
Fukuyama, Robert P. George, Mary Ann Glendon, Alfonso Gómez-Lobo, William
B. Hurlbut, Leon R. Kass, Charles Krauthammer, Paul McHugh, and Gilbert
C. Meilaender.

"Minority Recommendation: Seven Members of the Council recommend a ban on
cloning-to-produce-children, with regulation of the use of cloned embryos
for biomedical research....
Permitting cloning-for-biomedical-research now, while governing it
through a prudent and sensible regulatory regime, is the most appropriate
way to allow important research to proceed while insuring that abuses are
prevented. We believe that the legitimate concerns about human cloning
expressed throughout this report are sufficiently addressed by this
ban-plus-regulation proposal, and that the nation should affirm and
support the responsible effort to find treatments and cures that might
help many who are suffering."

This position is supported by Council Members Elizabeth H. Blackburn,
Daniel W. Foster, Michael S. Gazzaniga, William F. May, Janet D. Rowley,
Michael J. Sandel, and James Q. Wilson.

Anyone on this list have 4 years to spare for a moratorium on research?
Linda

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research"
Date: 11 Jul 2002 09:55:12 -0400
Subject: Call the White House and Your Senators

Urgent!  Action Alert

THE PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS ISSUED REPORT
CALL THE WHITE HOUSE
AND YOUR SENATORS

The President’s Council on Bioethics Released Their Report on Human
Cloning.  The Report Calls for a Four-Year Moratorium on Therapeutic
Cloning for Important Medical Research

Tell the White House and Your Senators MORATORIUM = BAN

Please Take a Few Minutes to Visit the
Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research Website
(www.camradvocacy.org)
and Take Action In Support of  Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Research
(SCNT)


The President’s Council on Bioethics released their report on Thursday,
July 11th.  The report advises the President there should be a four-year
moratorium on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT, commonly referred to
as therapeutic cloning).  The report is an effort by Leon Kass to
influence the Senate debate.  While a moratorium may sound like a
compromise to many Senators, it is a thinly veiled attempt at banning
this important research.  ALL Senators and the President need to hear
from YOU that a moratorium is equal to a ban.

Call the White House and let your voice be heard, a moratorium is equal
to a ban:

202-456-1414

More than ever, we need you to contact your Senators to let them know
that SCNT is vital to stem cell research and must NOT be criminalized.
Tell your Senators a moratorium is not a compromise.  Talking points and
background information are available on the CAMR Website
(www.camradvocacy.org).

A moratorium isn’t necessary. SCNT/human therapeutic cloning research has
been studied and endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences.

A moratorium is a thinly veiled attempt at banning important research
outright.  Proponents of a moratorium know how difficult it is to lift
one – that is why they are proposing it.

A moratorium would mean that important medical breakthroughs are put on
hold indefinitely.  People suffering from disease are told they will just
have to wait for their cures.  Many of these patients do not have time to
wait and a research delay could be a death sentence.

A moratorium sends a strong signal to the scientific community that
SCNT/human therapeutic cloning should not be pursued.  Further, it
stigmatizes this research as suspect.  Researchers will be unwilling to
pursue this important area of science because of the stigma as well as
the uncertainty about whether it will ever become an accepted form of
research.

Shutting down research today and restarting it when a moratorium is
lifted is illogical. It makes no sense to impose a moratorium that forces
patients with diseases to wait two years before researchers can get
started on potential cures and treatments. A moratorium will hold back
science much longer than two years.

With a moratorium, SCNT research will continue in other countries while
disallowed in the United States – the effects of this will be:
·        Scientists may leave this country to perform research elsewhere.

·        Americans will not have first access to the newest, and
potentially best, treatments because new products will be developed in
other countries.

·        The U.S. will surrender its ability to lead the world not only
in research, but to set the ethical and regulatory standards about how
this research should be conducted.

Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Orrin Hatch
(R-UT), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) have joined together to sponsor S.
2439, the “Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2002.”  The act would ban
reproductive cloning to create children, but permit privately funded
research involving somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), sometimes called
therapeutic cloning.  This legislation is widely supported among
scientific, medical, and patient groups.

Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) have
sponsored S. 1899, a bill by that would ban all cloning including SCNT;
put researchers in prison; and deny patients the benefit of any therapies
developed from therapeutic cloning outside the United States.

Make your support of SCNT known!!!!!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn