 |
 |
Tom Berdine Founder; YoungParkinsons.com HYPERLINK "http://www.youngparkinsons.com"www.youngparkinsons.com State Coordinator, New Mexico Parkinson's Action Network HYPERLINK "http://www.parkinsonsaction.org/"www.parkinsonsaction.org/ President, Young Onset Parkinson's Association (YOPA) HYPERLINK "http://www.roundisfunny.com/test/pdhood.html"http://www.roundisfunny.co m/test/pdhood.html -----Original Message----- Wrom: ZAAFXISHJEXXIMQZUIVOTQNQEMSFDULHPQQWOYIYZUNNYCGPKYLEJ Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2002 8:19 AM To: [log in to unmask] Org; Mike Everts; john rogers; Joan Samuelson; Erik Oksala; elisabeth Bresee; Elfie Fassler; Christy Hahn Subject: Action Alert!! Urgent! Action Alert IMMINENT VOTE IN THE SENATE CALL/FAX YOUR SENATORS Brownback Is Proposing a 2-Year Moratorium 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) Your hard work has paid off. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) is considering changing his bill to propose a two-year moratorium. While this may sound like a compromise to many Senators, it is a thinly veiled attempt at banning this important research. ALL Senators need to hear from YOU that a moratorium is equal to a ban. We hear the vote is imminent. The debate may begin next week. 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 to vote “Yes” on S. 2439, vote “No” on S. 1899, and vote “No” on a moratorium. Talking points and background information are available on the CAMR Website (www.camradvocacy.org). 1. A moratorium isn’t necessary. SCNT/human therapeutic cloning research has been studied and endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. 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. 6. 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. 7. 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. 8. 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. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO? Take Action! There are two steps: 1. Call or fax a letter to your Senators in support of SCNT. Tell your Senators a moratorium is equal to a ban on important, life-saving research. 2. Write a letter to the editor of your local or regional newspaper (see CAMR Website, www.camradvocacy.org). Make your support of SCNT known!!!!! --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.370 / Virus Database: 205 - Release Date: 6/5/2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn