Brownback Bill

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

This came today from CAMR (Coalition for the Advancement of Medical

Research). This is an umbrella organization which includes

CAMR Members

Alliance for Aging Research

Alpha-1 Foundation

ALS Association

American Council on Education

American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of

Neurological Surgeons

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR)

American Infertility Association

American Medical Association

American Society for Cell Biology

American Society for Microbiology

American Society for Reproductive Medicine

American Society of Hematology

Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology

Association for Women in Science

Association of American Medical Colleges

Association of American Universities

Association of Reproductive Health Professionals

Biotechnology Industry Organization

California Institute of Technology

Californians for Cure

Canavan Research Illinois

Cancer Research Foundation of America

Cedars-Sinai Health System

Children’s Neurobiological Solutions

Reeve Paralysis Foundation

Coalition of Patient Advocates for Skin Disease Research

Columbia University

Committee for the Advancement of Stem Cell Research

CuresNow

Duke University Medical Center

Genetic Alliance

Hadassah

Harvard University

International Foundation for Anticancer Drug Discovery (IFADD)

International Longevity Center -- USA

International Psoriasis Community (IPC)

Modell Foundation

s Hopkins Medicine

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International

Lymphoma Research Foundation of America

Monash University

National Association for Biomedical Research

National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant

Colleges

National Coalition for Cancer Research

National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship

National Council on Spinal Cord Injury

National Health Council

Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus

Parkinson’s Action Network

Parkinson's Disease Foundation

Project A.L.S.

Quest for the Cure

Research!America

Resolve: The National Infertility Association

Rett Syndrome Research Foundation

Society for Women's Health Research

Stanford University

Stem Cell Research Foundation

and Michele Kirsch Foundation

Tourette's Syndrome Association

Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance

University of California System

University of Rochester Medical Center

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Vanderbilt University and Medical Center

Washington University in St. Louis

WiCell Research Institution

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation

Wisconsin Association for Biomedical Research and Education

Urgent! Action Alert

EMAIL YOUR STORY

ACT@...

Senators Want To Hear Your Story And Why You Support Somatic Cell Nuclear

Transfer (Therapeutic Cloning)

There is no question, the debate on somatic cell nuclear transfer technology

(SCNT, sometimes called therapeutic cloning) is coming to the Senate floor

in the next

few weeks, and Senators are asking to hear from individuals.

They want to hear your story, and why this research is important to you.

Opponents of SCNT, and the hope it offers, have drowned out our voice

on Capitol Hill. We need to be heard, and your email can help.

Please take a moment to

draft a personalized email, and send it to act@....

Urge your friends and family to write too.

As you know, the Senate has already held hearings on S. 1899, a bill

by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) 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. The latest word

we have is that the Senate

vote is due in early May.

This is the time to take action! The Brownback bill could be a

disaster for the nearly 100 million Americans who suffer from cancer, Alzheimer’s,

diabetes, ALS,

Parkinson’s, spinal cord injury and other devastating diseases for

which treatments must still be found

This is your BEST chance

to make your support of SCNT known!!!!!

Email Your Personal Story Today To: act@...

Message points for your email:

· Somatic cell

nuclear transfer (SCNT) is not the science fiction you see in movies, but

rather a reasonable and appropriate way to alleviate the horrors faced

by patients suffering from deadly and painful diseases.

· Cloning is widely

used, vital medical tool that has allowed scientists and researchers to

develop powerful new drugs; produce insulin and useful bacteria in the

lab; track the origins of biological weapons; catch criminals and free

innocent people; and produce new plants and livestock to help feed an undernourished

world population.

· The nation’s

leading scientists, including two prestigious committees of the National

Academy of Sciences, agree that cloning to reproduce humans should be illegal,

but that SCNT (or therapeutic cloning) should be permitted.

· SCNT is a research

technique to develop cells that can be used to treat or cure chronic and

degenerative diseases and disorders. The process has nothing to do

with sexual

reproduction. Its sole purpose is research to meet

unmet medical needs.

· By moving stem cell

research forward, SCNT could bring new hope to the nearly 100 million Americans

who suffer from cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, hepatitis, Parkinson’s disease

and other devastating conditions for which treatments must still be found.

· SCNT allows a patient’s

own genetic material to be used to develop advanced stem cell therapies.

These therapies—including transplants and transfusions-- would be tailored

to

match each patient’s specific medical condition and dramatically

reduce the possibility of causing the patient’s immune system to attack

and reject the therapy.

The Brownback bill would have devastating results.

It would:

Ban SCNT, or therapeutic cloning, cutting-off

hope to millions of Americans with life-threatening diseases;

Make it illegal for U.S. citizens to seek

SCNT treatment abroad;

Send a U.S. scientist to jail for developing

SCNT therapies in a petri dish;

Make it illegal for U.S. scientists to import

SCNT therapies that were developed in other countries.

Take care, Bill Werre