YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT A BLASTOCYST IS A FEW UNDIFFERENTIATED MICROSCOPIC
CELLS, NOT A FETUS, CHILD OR PERSON. IF YOU VOTE FOR THIS MAN YOU ARE
VOTING AGAINST ME. IF YOU DO I'D LIKE YOU TO EXPLAIN TO ME HOW YOU CONFER
14TH AMENDMENT RIGHTS ON A BLASTOCYST.
RAY
JOHN McCAIN, BASEBALL, AND STEM CELL RESEARCH
Do you like the stem cell policies of President George Bush? If so, you will
love John McCain, who is more of the same, only worse.
A McCain Presidency would attack stem cell research three ways.
He has promised to sign a bill to put stem cell scientists in jail;
He approves of a law to redefine human life as legally beginning at the
blastocyst stage, potentially criminalizing embryonic stem cell research;
He has pledged to appoint even more ultra-conservative judges to the Supreme
Court, effectively stacking it.
But you heard that the Senator from Arizona supported the Stem Cell Research
Enhancement Act? That is true, and he deserves credit. John McCain did vote
twice to support (H.R. 810, S5, Castle/DeGette)--unlike President Bush, who
twice vetoed it.
Bear in mind, however, that Castle/Degette is not a strong bill. It was
written as cautiously and conservatively as possible, so that even the most
anti-research President might be able to sign it. There is no reference to
advanced stem cell research like SCNT (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer), and
no funding. Its improvement? Mr. Bush's policy allowed federal funding only
for those embryonic stem cell lines in existence before August 9th, 2001.
Castle/Degette would have removed the date.
So a McCain Presidency would allow one mildly positive bill to go forward.
That's it: his total contribution to stem cell research.
How he would oppose the research is far more significant. Look at three
commitments the Senator has made, all utterly damaging to research.
STRIKE ONE: Like President Bush, and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), Senator
McCain is in favor of jailing stem cell scientists if they participate in
advanced stem cell research, Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT), sometimes
called therapeutic cloning. As you know, SCNT involves a skin cell and an
emptied egg like a woman loses every month; it involves no sperm, no
implantation in the womb, no womb-and no child at all-except perhaps a
person being healed of an incurable disease. However, John McCain has
pledged to prohibit SCNT, the first ban on medical research in American
history, which Mr. Bush tried (and failed) to do in all his years in office.
The law to ban the research is the Cloning Prohibition Act, offered by
Brownback.
The Brownback Cloning Prohibition Act sees no difference between cloning a
baby (useless, dangerous, and deserving of criminalization ) and copying
cells with SCNT, which positive process is supported by essentially the
entire medical, research, and patient advocate community. The Act would
put scientists in jail for ten years, and/or fine them a minimum of one
million dollars. It would threaten the same penalties for doctors, parents,
or patients themselves; anyone who tried to use SCNT.
Could Senator McCain support such a cruelly unfair law? Listen to his own
words, in an interview with conservative National Review editor Ramesh
Ponnoru.
(interviewer Ponnoru) "On the question of stem cells. I believe the last
time around you voted for federal funding for using the embryos at I.V.F.
clinics. Have you reconsidered that? Is that still your view?
Sen. McCain: Yeah. It's still my view. I've watched many close friends
suffer from many of these debilitating diseases. I'm for all kinds of
stem-cell research. But I would hope that we can make scientific progress so
that this wouldn't be that much of an issue any more but I support federal
funding for it and I understand that I have a difference of opinion with
some of my friends in the pro-life community.
Ponnuru: All kinds of stem-cell research? What about stem-cell research that
involves human cloning?
Sen. McCain: I'm obviously against any human cloning. Obviously.
Ponnuru: Would you be willing to ban it?
Sen. McCain: Sure.
Ponnuru: So you'd support something like the Brownback bill? (The Human
Cloning Prohibition Act of 2007, see below)
Sen. McCain: Yes. I think I'm a co-sponsor."*.
--National Review, March 5th, 2007
STRIKE TWO: Senator McCain supports a bill which would redefine human life
as legally beginning at the blastocyst stage: granting "personhood" status
to the microscopic joining of sperm and egg.
According to his spokesperson (and numerous sources including Paul Krugman
of the New York Times)**, McCain would sign the South Dakota anti-abortion
law, considered the most extreme ever proposed. The law contains
"personhood" provisions, stating that "life begins at conception". This
could be disastrous to stem cell research hopes.
Remember that discarded blastocysts are currently the only source of
embryonic stem cells. If a blastocyst (the microscopic joining of sperm and
egg) has legal standing in a court of law, this could criminalize the entire
field of embryonic stem cell research. The In Vitro Fertility (IVF)
process, mixing sperm and eggs in a Petri dish, generally ends up with 15-20
blastocysts, most of which are too weak to survive. These will be thrown
away, donated to another couple (who generally prefer to make their own),
frozen forever-or donated to research as a source of hope for cure.
Could this use of discarded blastocysts, turning medical trash into
treasure, be allowed, if the bill John McCain approved should become law?
Look at the official text:
"BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Section 1. ".the guarantee of due process of law under the South Dakota Bill
of Rights applies equally to born and unborn human beings.
"Section 2. The legislature finds that the life of a human being begins when
the ovum is fertilized by male sperm."
From the instant of fertilization, a blastocyst (often shed unnoticed by
married women in their natural cycles) is entitled to "due process of law".
Mr. McCain claims to support embryonic stem cell research-but he approves of
legislation which could make that research illegal?
STRIKE THREE: Senator McCain has pledged to support "strict constructionist"
(ultra-conservative) judges to the Supreme Court. His example of the sort of
judge he would appoint? Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia. There are already
seven Republican judges to only two Democrats on the court, considered one
of the most conservative ever. If even one more conservative judge was
appointed, the Roberts Court would have an absolute conservative majority.
And who would advise him on his Supreme Court appointments? None other than
that most anti-stem cell Senator of all, Sam Brownback****.\
Folks, in baseball terms, if John McCain was at bat, the count would be one
ball, and three strikes.
In the twisted logic of those who oppose stem cell research, that is
probably a home run.
But for me, he's out.
Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate)
S 1036 IS
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1036
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit human cloning.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 29, 2007
Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. BURR,
Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. COBURN, Mr. CORKER, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DEMINT,
Mrs. DOLE, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. ENSIGN, Mr. ENZI, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr.
HAGEL, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. KYL, Mr. LOTT, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr.
SESSIONS, Mr. THOMAS, Mr. THUNE, Mr. VITTER, and Mr. VOINOVICH) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to prohibit human cloning.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2007'.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON HUMAN CLONING.
Part H of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 289 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:
`SEC. 498D. PROHIBITION ON HUMAN CLONING.
`(a) Definitions- In this section:
`(1) HUMAN CLONING- The term `human cloning' means human asexual
reproduction, accomplished by introducing nuclear material from one or more
human somatic cells into a fertilized or unfertilized oocyte whose nuclear
material has been removed or inactivated so as to produce a living organism
(at any stage of development) that is genetically virtually identical to an
existing or previously existing human organism.
`(2) ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION- The term `asexual reproduction' means
reproduction not initiated by the union of oocyte and sperm.
`(3) SOMATIC CELL- The term `somatic cell' means a diploid cell (having a
complete set of chromosomes) obtained or derived from a living or deceased
human body at any stage of development.
`(b) Prohibition- It shall be unlawful for any person or entity, public or
private, in or affecting interstate commerce, knowingly--
`(1) to perform or attempt to perform human cloning;
`(2) to participate in an attempt to perform human cloning; or
`(3) to ship or receive for any purpose an embryo produced by human cloning
or any product derived from such embryo.
`(c) Importation- It shall be unlawful for any person or entity, public or
private, knowingly to import for any purpose an embryo produced by human
cloning.
`(d) Penalties-
`(1) CRIMINAL PENALTY- Any person or entity that violates this section shall
be fined or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.
`(2) CIVIL PENALTY- Any person or entity that violates any provision of this
section shall be subject to, in the case of a violation that involves the
derivation of a pecuniary gain, a civil penalty of not less than $1,000,000
and not more than an amount equal to the amount of the gross gain multiplied
by 2, if that amount is greater than $1,000,000."
**
529M0546 SENATE STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ENGROSSED NO. HB 1215 -
02/17/2006
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Section 1. The Legislature accepts and concurs with the conclusion of
the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortion. that life begins at the time
of conception.
***"McCain Is Not a Moderate", by Paul Krugman, the New York Times
"Most notably, Mr. McCain's spokesperson says that he would have signed
South Dakota's extremist new anti-abortion law.
The spokesperson went on to say that the senator would have taken "the
appropriate steps under state law" to ensure that cases of rape and incest
were excluded. But that attempt at qualification makes no sense: the South
Dakota law** has produced national shockwaves precisely because it prohibits
abortions even for victims of rape or incest.
The bottom line is that Mr. McCain isn't a moderate; he's a man of the
hard right. How far right? A statistical analysis of Mr. McCain's recent
voting record, available at www.voteview.com, ranks him as the Senate's
third most conservative member."-13 March, 2006
****"On the issue of appointments to the Supreme Court, McCain mentioned
that Sam Brownback (emphasis added) would play an advisory role in helping
decide who he should nominate for the Supreme Court. As models of who he
would select, John McCain pointed to Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin
Scalia." -Catholic News Agency, January 23, 2008.
Don C. Reed
Sponsor, Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act
co-chair, Californians for Cures
Vice President, Public Policy, Americans for Cures
Rayilyn Brown
Board Member AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
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