--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research"
<[log in to unmask]>
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 07 Oct 2004 20:57:24 GMT
Subject: United Nations May Ban Life-Saving Medical Research --
Therapeutic Cloning
Urgent! Action Alert
The United Nations Will Vote to Ban All Forms of Cloning on October 21 or
22
Take Action Now – We Would Like to Make a Large Push Before an October 13
Press Conference
Fax or Email John Danforth, the United States Representative to the
United Nations and
Express Your Support for Research:
Fax: 212-415-4053 Email: [log in to unmask]
As you may know, the Administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has
endorsed a United Nations resolution by Costa Rica that would ban all
forms of cloning, including therapeutic cloning of human stem cells. On
October 21 or 22, the United Nations General Assembly may vote to ban all
forms of cloning, both reproductive and therapeutic.
The United States is one of the countries leading this effort to
reconsider the vote taken in committee, and is a prime sponsor of the
resolution that would ban both reproductive and therapeutic cloning
around the world.
Send an email with the letter enclosed in this message, to the U.S.
ambassador to the U.N. and encourage him to vote for the South Korean
resolution to ban reproductive cloning but allow for therapeutic cloning.
We are concerned about the very real possibility that the UN will call
for a worldwide ban on all forms of cloning. Your input will help express
the large number of individuals who support cutting edge medical research
to cure and alleviate disease.
For your convenience, we have included a letter (at the end of this
email) for you to personalize and send to Ambassador John Danforth.
Again, please fax or email your letter to 212-415-4053 or [log in to unmask]
Somatic cell nuclear transfer is about saving and improving lives. Go to
www.camradvocacy.org, and take action to support somatic cell nuclear
transfer.
Letter to Personalize:
The Honorable John C. Danforth
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Mission to the United Nations
140 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017
Dear Ambassador Danforth:
I am writing to express my strong opposition to a proposed United Nations
anti-cloning ban which would include therapeutic cloning of human stem
cells and thus severely slow progress from medical and scientific
research.
I am aware that the Administration of President George W. Bush has
endorsed a resolution by Costa Rica that would ban all forms of cloning;
including therapeutic cloning of human stem cells (which scientists call
somatic cell nuclear transfer or SCNT). The position of the Bush White
House is at odds with a majority of the Americans people, with more than
40 Nobel laureates in medicine, and with a bipartisan majority of the
U.S. Senate. In fact, this position is at odds with your own stated
position in the past.
Therefore, I would urge you to speak again of your own true beliefs and
support the resolution to be offered by South Korea and Belgium. That
resolution would appropriately prohibit human reproductive cloning, but
would permit individual nations to develop their own laws and policies
governing therapeutic cloning. Therapeutic cloning is about saving and
improving lives. It is fundamentally different from human reproductive
cloning; SCNT produces stem cells, not babies.
All countries can agree that human reproductive cloning should be
prohibited. However, it is essential that the distinction be made between
cloning for reproductive purposes and cloning for the purposes of
research. Therapeutic cloning research is safe, ethical and may lead to
treatments or cures for medical conditions including heart disease,
cancer, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injury, and
other diseases that impair and cut short the lives of hundreds of
thousands of people in the United States and millions worldwide.
Ambassador Danforth, in your long and honorable career you have
consistently sided with leading scientists and educators, and with
patients and their families on the issue of SCNT. I urge you to reject
the Costa Rican resolution and instead support the people in your country
and in the world who will someday be helped by research in countries that
choose to permit SCNT research with appropriate ethical and legal
safeguards. We owe it to our families, friends and others who suffer to
allow this important research to proceed.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
