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so far, personhood has not been established in court. It failed in CO, but all Georgia needs is for the house to pass it. same for other states. Texas is making a big effort. Ray Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------------------- From: "Rick McGirr" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 8:10 AM To: <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: "Enslaving" embryos > I don't know, but I would think that since this same case was dismissed > twice already, that it would start to lose traction by being presented > again. I suppose the issue is the personhood of the embryo. Am I correct > in saying that this personhood has not been established in any court? > > Rick McGirr > > -----Original Message----- > From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of rayilynlee > Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 9:47 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: "Enslaving" embryos > > Group Accuses Obama of 'Enslaving' Embryos, Compares Policy to Holocaust > The National Association for the Advancement of Preborn Children is urging > a > > federal judge to halt Obama's plans to infuse embryonic stem cell research > with federal funds. > By Mike Levine > FOXNews.com > Tuesday, March 31, 2009 > > A group opposed to abortion and embryonic stem cell research is accusing > President Obama of violating the constitutional rights of a frozen embryo > and "enslaving" it, like Nazis enslaved Jews during the Holocaust. > > The group is urging a federal judge to halt Obama's plans to infuse > embryonic stem cell research with federal funds. In a lawsuit filed > Thursday, the group said it was taking legal action on behalf of "Mary > Scott > > Doe" -- described as a "U.S. citizen" whose life has been "suspended" > since > "she" was frozen in liquid nitrogen -- and thousands of other embryos just > like "her." > > "She is entitled to due process and the equal protection of the laws and > to > be free from slavery and involuntary servitude, as guaranteed by the > Fourteenth and Thirteenth Amendments," said the lawsuit, filed by Maryland > attorney Martin Palmer, who heads the National Association for the > Advancement of Preborn Children. > > In early March, Obama issued an executive order reversing the Bush > administration's limits on embryonic stem cell research, in effect opening > the door for an influx of federal dollars toward such research. Embryos > have > > to be destroyed to create stem cells for research, but many scientists > believe it could lead to cures or treatments for serious ailments, > including > > Parkinson's Disease and diabetes. > "That potential will not reveal itself on its own," Obama said in > announcing > > his plans. "Medical miracles do not happen simply by accident. > They result from painstaking and costly research, from years of lonely > trial > > and error -- much of which never bears fruit -- and from a government > willing to support that work." > > The lawsuit filed Thursday said Obama is "treating human embryos, and, > thus, > > human beings as property" that "may be donated for use and destruction in > federally-funded [research] ... without the consent of and against the > will > of the embryos themselves." > > According to a 2003 study by the Rand Corporation, about 400,000 embryos > have been frozen and stored for future use, but the vast majority of them > are designated for future attempts at pregnancy. Only about 11,000 have > been > > designated for research. > > Nevertheless, the lawsuit said any frozen embryos designated for research, > by their inherent state, are "entirely incapable of giving an informed > consent to their use," insisting that every embryo has "a will to live and > develop into a fully-formed human being." Therefore, the lawsuit said, > stem > cell research is "a form of slavery or involuntary servitude in violation > of > > the Thirteenth Amendment." > > The lawsuit compared the use of embryos in stem cell research to the human > experiments Jews endured during the Holocaust. > "The utilitarian thinking underlying [President Obama's] proposed > government > > funding of human embryo stem cell research and experimentation is what led > to the Nazi experimentation on concentration camp prisoners during World > War > > II," the lawsuit said, noting that after all the Nazi experiments on > humans > "not a single advance for medical science resulted." > > The lawsuit is asking -- actually, "praying" in its words -- for a federal > judge in Maryland to declare Obama's executive order "null and void," to > rule that "Mary Scott Doe" and other frozen embryos are "persons" entitled > to due process under the Constitution, and to order Obama to "cease and > desist any and all plans to fund or otherwise facilitate, assist or > encourage the undertaking of any human embryo stem cell experimentation." > > This is the latest in a series of similar lawsuits filed by Palmer over > the > past several years. > In 1995, he filed a lawsuit to halt research recommended by the National > Institutes of Health under President Bill Clinton. A federal district > court > and a federal court of appeals in Virginia dismissed the case after > determining it had no legal standing, and the U.S. Supreme Court then > rebuffed Martin's efforts to have the highest court in the land hear the > case. > > Ten years later, in 2005, Martin filed a lawsuit in California, arguing > that > > a 2004 law expanding state money for stem cell research violated the > constitutional rights of a frozen embryo named "Mary Scott Doe." Its > language, including the reference to Nazi experiments, was nearly > identical > to the lawsuit filed this week against President Obama. That lawsuit was > dismissed. > > Rayilyn Brown > Director AZNPF > Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation > [log in to unmask] > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn