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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