Urgent Stem Cell Action Alert!
Call/E-mail/Fax your Senators ASAP!

Ask your Senators to sign on to
the Specter-Harkin Stem Cell Letter
42 down, 58 to go!

Action Needed:

Please call/e-mail/fax your Senators ASAP requesting that they sign on to
the Dear Colleague letter being circulated by Senators Arlen Specter
(R-PA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) asking the President to relax restrictions
on stem cell research.  This letter is similar to the
Castle-DeGette-Cunningham-Dooley Dear Colleague letter in the House,
which garnered 206 signatures.

We can’t let up now even though your hard work has already resulted in
almost half the Senate, 42 Senators, signing the letter.  Contact your
Senators today!

The following 22 Senators are especially critical for you to contact
since they might be hesitant to sign on to the letter, but have indicated
their support for embryonic stem cell research in the past :

Allen, George (R-VA); Bennett, Robert (R-UT); Bond, Kit (R-MO); Breaux,
John (D-LA); Bunning, Jim (R-KY); Byrd, Robert (D-WV); Coleman, Norm
(R-MN); Campbell, Ben Nighthorse (R-CO) ; Crapo, Michael (R-ID); Dole,
Elizabeth (R-NC); Domenici, Pete (R-NM); Ensign, John (R-NV); Frist, Bill
(R-TN); Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR); Lott, Trent (R-MS); Lugar, Richard
(R-IN); McConnell, Mitch (R-KY); Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK); Roberts, Pat
(R-KS); Sununu, John (R-NH); Talent, Jim (R-MO).

Please see below for both a sample email that you may customize and send
by cutting and pasting the material into your own email program and a
sample script for a phone call.  Before you call or email your Senator,
check the list below to see if he or she has already agreed to sign the
letter.

Current Signers :  (as of 5/13/04):

Akaka, Daniel K. (D-HI); Alexander, Lamar (R-TN); Baucus, Max (D-MT);
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM); Boxer, Barbara (D-CA); Carper, Tom (D-DE);
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA); Chafee, Lincoln (R-RI); Collins, Susan M. (R-ME);
Corzine, Jon (D-NJ); Daschle, Thomas A. (D-SD); Dayton, Mark (D-MN);
Dodd, Chris (D-CT); Dorgan, Byron (D-ND); Durbin, Dick (D-IL); Edwards,
John R. (D-NC); Feingold, Russ (D-WI); Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA); Harkin,
Tom (D-IA); Hatch, Orrin G. (R-UT); Hollings, Ernest F. (D-SC);
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX); Inouye, Daniel K. (D-HI); Jeffords, James
M. (I-VT); Kennedy, Edward M. (D-MA); Kerry, John (D-MA); Kohl, Herbert
H. (D-WI); Landrieu, Mary (D-LA); Lautenberg, Frank R. (D-NJ); Leahy,
Patrick J. (D-VT); Levin, Carl (D-MI); Murray, Patty (D-WA); Nelson, Bill
(D-FL); Reed, Jack (D-RI); Reid, Harry (D-NV); Sarbanes, Paul S. (D-MD);
Schumer, Charles (D-NY); Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI); Schumer, Charles E.
(D-NY); Smith, Gordon (R-OR); Specter, Arlen (R-PA); Warner, John W.
(R-VA); Wyden, Ron (D-OR).

Click here to take action NOW:
http://capwiz.com/pan/issues/alert/?alertid=5807056&type=CU

Otherwise, please visit the PAN website to obtain contact information for
your Senator, http://www.parkinsonsaction.org/, and click the button on
the left-hand side that reads “Take Action”.

A sample email and phone call script follow for your information.

Go to http://capwiz.com/pan/dbq/officials/ to find contact information
about your Senators, or you may call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at
202-224-3121 to be connected with your Senators’ offices.

Thanks for your help!

Background:

When President Bush announced his stem cell policy in August 2001, he
stated that there were 78 lines of embryonic stem cells available for
research, yet today there are only 15 lines available.  Additionally,
these 15 lines are all contaminated by mouse feeder cells, thereby making
their therapeutic use for humans uncertain.  Furthermore, this small
number of stem cell lines does not offer sufficient genetic diversity for
application to the millions of Americans suffering from a wide array of
diseases, including Parkinson’s.

Since August 9, 2001, significant progress has been made in the science
of stem cell derivation and handling. Several stem cell lines derived
after August 9, 2001, have been either derived or grown without the use
of mouse feeder cells. Under the current policy, these more advanced stem
cell lines are not available to federally funded scientists.

Therefore, the current federal policy concerning embryonic stem cell
research is too restrictive as it does not enable this critical research
to be fully explored.  An expansion is necessary if federally funded
scientists and physicians are to have the tools they need to discover
treatments and cures.

Sample Email Text

Subject: Please sign on to the Specter-Harkin Dear Colleague supporting
an expansion of the federal stem cell policy.

May X, 2004

Dear Senator______________:

I am gravely concerned about the President’s short-sighted policy on
embryonic stem cell research.

This issue is extremely important to me not only because [insert your PD
connection here] but also for the chilling effect on biomedical
research—which may preclude a cure or new or improved treatments for not
only Parkinson’s, but also other diseases such as diabetes, spinal cord
injury, cancer, and Alzheimer’s that affect many millions of Americans!

Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disorder that destroys brain
cells controlling motor function.  Currently available treatments only
partially alleviate the resulting stiffness, tremor and slowness of
movement.  Eventually Parkinson’s leaves its victims unable to walk, talk
or even move. [Add personal details about how you have been directly
affected by Parkinson’s.]

Public opinion strongly favors embryonic stem cell research, with most
Americans in favor of it moving forward.

The fact that federal funding is available for only a limited number of
embryonic stem cell lines  significantly compromises the search for
cures.

Will the Senator help me and sign on to the Specter/Harkin Dear
Colleague?

Thanks for your consideration.  I hope I can count on the Senator’s
support on this life or death issue.

Sincerely,

Text of the Dear Colleague:

May 6, 2004

Dear Colleague,

We urge you to join us in writing to the President regarding the need to
expand the current Administration policy on embryonic stem cells.

Stem cells have the extraordinary ability to replace damaged or diseased
cells in the body. Recent research indicates that stem cell-based
therapies may have the potential to treat Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s,
spinal cord injuries, heart-disease, and many other diseases.

As Chairman and Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee that
funds the National Institutes of Health, we have strongly supported stem
cell research since human embryonic stem cells were first derived in
1998. We, together with Senators Feinstein, Hatch, and Kennedy, believe
that the time has come to expand the current policy on human embryonic
stem cells so that U.S. scientists and physicians can continue to make
strides towards cures and treatments.

The President allowed the first federal funding of embryonic stem cell
research by making funding available for research on stem cell lines that
had been derived before August 9, 2001. Originally, it was thought that
78 embryonic stem cell lines would be available for federal funding, and
that these lines would allow significant progress towards cures.
Unfortunately, over two years after the policy was instituted, only 19
stem cell lines are available to federally funded scientists. All of
these lines are contaminated by the use of mouse feeder cells and will
probably never meet the standards required for human treatment.

Since August 9, 2001, significant progress has been made in the science
of stem cell derivation and handling. Several stem cell lines derived
after August 9, 2001, have been either derived or grown without the use
of mouse feeder cells. Under the current policy, these more advanced stem
cell lines are not available to federally funded scientists.

We, together with Senators Feinstein, Hatch, and Kennedy, urge you to
join us in writing to the President to urge an expansion of the stem cell
policy so that federally funded scientists and physicians can have the
tools they need to discover treatments and cures. If you have any
questions, please contact Sudip Parikh (224-1396) with Senator Specter or
Erik Fatemi (224-7415) with Senator Harkin.

Sincerely,
Arlen Specter
Tom Harkin
Chairman Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Subcommittee on Labor, HHS
Education and Related Agencies Education and Related Agencies


The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to urge you to expand the current federal policy concerning
embryonic stem cell research.

As you know, embryonic stem cells have the potential to be used to treat
and better understand deadly and disabling diseases and conditions that
affect more than 100 million Americans, such as cancer, heart disease,
diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord
injury, and many others.

Embryonic stem cells can be derived from in vitro fertilized (IVF)
embryos that are developed in excess of those needed for the procedure
used to enable infertile couples to have children. The IVF process
results in more embryos than are needed by the couple. There are
estimated to be more than 400,000 IVF embryos, which are currently frozen
and will likely be destroyed if not donated, with informed consent of the
couple, for research.

We very much appreciate your words of support for the enormous potential
of this research and we know that you intended your policy to help
promote this research to its fullest. As you know, the Administration’s
policy limits federal funding only to embryonic stem cells that were
derived by August 9, 2001, the date of the policy announcement.

However, scientists have told us that since the policy went into effect
more than two years ago, we have learned that the embryonic stem cell
lines eligible for federal funding will not be suitable to effectively
promote this research. We therefore feel it is essential to relax the
restrictions in the current policy for this research to be fully
explored.

Among the difficult challenges with the current policy are the following:

• While it originally appeared that 78 embryonic stem cell lines would be
available for research under the federal policy, now, more than two years
after August 9, 2001, only 19 are available to researchers.

• All available stem cell lines are contaminated with mouse feeder cells,
making their therapeutic use for humans uncertain.

• Scientists are reporting that it is increasingly difficult to attract
new scientists to this area of research because of concerns that funding
restrictions will keep this research from being successful.

• Despite the fact that U.S. scientists were the first to derive human
embryonic stem cells, leadership in this area of research is shifting to
other countries such as the United Kingdom, Singapore, South Korea, and
Australia.

Mr. President, we know that you have been a strong supporter of medical
research and share our commitment to curing disease and alleviating human
suffering. We would very much like to work with you to modify the current
embryonic stem cell policy so that it provides this area of research the
greatest opportunity to lead to the treatments and cures for which we are
all hoping.

Sincerely,


Laura Jane Cohen
Director of Outreach
Parkinson's Action Network
1000 Vermont Ave., NW
Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20005
ph: 202-842-4101  ext. 104
or 800-850-4726
fax: 202-842-4105
[log in to unmask]
www.parkinsonsaction.org

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