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Action Alert 2002-3: We are hoping to bombard Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska)phone lines and emails. This is day three of our campaign to contact each Senator Murkowski who is in support Senator Brownback's bill. One Senator will be targeted each day. Today the Young Onset Parkinson’s Association (YOPA), are asking for everyone to contact Senator Murkowski using email, phone, fax, or all of these mediums. Please have your friends and family do the same. Contact information for the Senator follows and a sample email is at the end of this letter. E-mail: http://capwiz.com/pan/mail/compose/?opt-out=0&type=CO&state=AK&tabtype=C O&qstate=AK&id=170&mailid=custom Washington Office: Phone: (202) 224-6665 Fax: (202) 224-5301 322 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510-0202 Main District Office: Phone: (907) 225-6880 Fax: (907) 225-0390 540 Water St., Ste. 101 Ketchikan, AK 99901 Last Thursday evening Senators Orrin Hatch and Sam Brownback presented what appeared to be unscheduled presentations on the Feinstein and Brownback bills. Both of the Senator’s agreed that human cloning should be banned. However, Senator Brownback appears to not understand the issue and kept confusing matters with “human patenting” and “reproductive cloning”. He gave several examples of letters written to him expressing fears that stem cell technology would lead to human cloning and unethical practices as well as a chart outlining the growth of a woman from frozen “fertilized” egg to a 28 year old woman. He was trying to say that in the process of SCNT, which uses “unfertilized” eggs, human life is destroyed at the cellular level. Co-sponsors of Brownback’s bill are clearly misinformed on this technology. SCNT, therapeutic cloning, takes an “unfertilized” human egg, removes the female DNA from the egg, transplants DNA such as skin cells from the intended recipient of the stem cells, then the egg is “shocked” to cause the cells to divide which creates an “embryo” (not a human life bearing embryo, simply an embryo where these stem cells, not babies, can grow), after a few days the new “embryonic” stem cells are removed (and obviously the “embryo” is destroyed in the process. The stem cells have the capability to become any cell in the human body. To include cells that would regenerate dopamine as in the case of Parkinson’s disease. Many co-sponsors of the Brownback bill fear this technique will be used “someday” to clone humans—which is known as “reproductive cloning” where the donors DNA remains intact within the egg. This is not the issue at hand and we must let these co-sponsors, and Senator Brownback understand this. In short, SCNT technology saves lives, maybe yours someday and we must not allow the Brownback bill to ban or delay this critical research. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample email follows if you wish to cut and paste it, and replace the highlighted text with your own story. “Dear Senator Murkowski, I am very dissapointed to see that you clearly do not understand SCNT technology as supported by the Feinstein bill, this being therapeutic cloning using “unfertilized eggs”. This issue affects me greatly because I deal with the difficulties of living with Parkinson’s on a daily basis. This technology is our best chance for a cure within 5 to 7 years according to the National Institute of Health (NIH). Just think I could be running and playing with my children again, and that gives me hope. If co-sponsors of the Brownback bill do not educate themselves on this issue, instead of being blinded by political and corporate propaganda, then my hopes are set on the back burner. Senator Brownback has changed his position on banning any such research and now is asking for a 2 year moratorium. A moratorium isn’t necessary. SCNT/human therapeutic cloning research has been studied and endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences. A moratorium would mean that important medical breakthroughs are put on hold indefinitely. People suffering from disease will be 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. Do you want to be a part of this? 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. This has already begun. In fact Saudia Arabia is setting up a stem cell research program as we speak. • Americans will not have first access to the newest, and potentially best, treatments because new products will be developed in other countries. And if patients do go overseas for this life saving treatment, according to the Brownback bill, they would be incarcerated upon their return! • 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. As you are also aware, the Feinstein Bill has/is being changed to present stronger language and more detailed information on what exactly this technology is and what it is not. It definitely is not the cloning of human life; it is the cloning of cells that may further be manipulated in various ways. This is life saving technology not life destroying.” Sincerely, Thomas N. Berdine Young Onset Parkinson's Association (YOPA) http://www.yopa.org/ --- 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