SCNT: Online petition letter

[Guest guest]

FYI: This came to me from a Parkinson's mailing list.

Regards,

Pam

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Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 2:46 PM

Subject: FW: Online petition letter

FYI: Please sign onto the following petition!!

-----Original Message-----

Weissman, an advocate for therapeutic cloning, has developed a state

specific online petition. At this time she has collected over 1,200

signatures. It would be great if we could help to increase that number.

Please find attached the specific states and links to the petition, and

distribute as broadly as possible.

Thank you again for all the effort people have put into this campaign. And

thank you to Cures Now for working with to develop this petition.

(LETTER FOLLOWS)

*****************

Do you think that our government should allow its citizens to use the

most promising technology available to create cures and therapies for ALS,

cancer, heart disease, Parkinson¹s, Alzheimer¹s, diabetes, macular

degeneration, spinal cord injury, auto-immune or neurological diseases?

Do you live in one of the following 12 states:

Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, North

Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, or Virginia?

(to get straight to the petition link, skip ahead!)

There is a bill before the senate (Brownback/Landrieu Bill, s1899) that

for the first time in the history of our nation would criminalize an

important avenue of scientific research. A small but powerful group of

religious fundamentalists is dangerously close to passing this bill which

would put scientists in jail for doing life-saving research. Your Senator

is considering backing this bill.

We need to tell our Senators to vote against this bill.

Now here comes the science part:

What is this new science? It¹s called Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

(SCNT), sometimes referred to as therapeutic cloning or research cloning.

The process is simple: they would take one of your cells and put it into an

unfertilized egg. This would produce stem cells that could be used to

regenerate damaged tissue.

We are all opposed to reproductive cloning (making babies). That should

be illegal. There is a bill that would ban reproductive cloning but allow

life saving research.

Forty Nobel Laureates have signed a letter in support of SCNT. America¹s

most respected scientific organization, the National Academy of Science,

supports the continuation of embryonic stem cell research and SCNT, as

does every major scientific or medical organization that has taken a

position on the subject.

The really scary part:

If the Brownback Bill passes, not only would scientists be fined a

million dollars and face up to ten years imprisonment, YOU COULD TOO. If

they develop a cure in one of the many foreign countries that are now

pursuing this research and you went there to be treated, you could be fined

and jailed when you returned to the United States.

For more information please refer to the following web sites:

www.nih.gov, www.camradvocacy.org, or the site from which this letter

originates: www.CuresNow.org. This letter is not asking you for money; it is

asking you to educate yourself and it is asking you to give the most

powerful thing you possess: your voice.

Please sign the petition to urge your Senator to say NO to this bill.

Please cut & paste & email this letter to everyone you know in your

state and everywhere so that they may have the chance to decide to raise

their voice in the fight for science.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO FORWARD THIS LETTER TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AFTER YOU

HAVE GONE TO THE SITE TO SIGN THE PETITION!

This only works if you push it along!

-TENNESSEE http://www.petitiononline.com/tenn/petition.html

-VIRGINIA http://www.petitiononline.com/warner/petition.html

-INDIANA http://www.petitiononline.com/indiana/petition.html

-TEXAS http://www.petitiononline.com/texas/petition.html

-COLORADO http://www.petitiononline.com/colorado/petition.html

-NEW MEXICO http://www.petitiononline.com/newmex/petition.html

-ARIZONA http://www.petitiononline.com/arizona/petition.html

-GEORGIA http://www.petitiononline.com/georgia/petition.html

-NORTH CAROLINA http://www.petitiononline.com/ncarolin/petition.html

-OREGON http://www.petitiononline.com/oregon/petition.html

-MAINE http://www.petitiononline.com/maine/petition.html

-MONTANA http://www.petitiononline.com/montana/petition.html

There are also petitions for:

-WEST VIRGINIA http://www.petitiononline.com/virginia/petition.html

-CONNECTICUT http://www.petitiononline.com/connecti/petition.html

-FLORIDA http://www.petitiononline.com/FLno1899/petition.html

-UTAH http://www.petitiononline.com/utah/petition.html

These states are not on the " target " list at this time, but these

Senators would sure appreciate you support!

If you do not see your state on this list, please go to

www.camradvocacy.org, where you can send a letter to your Senator

easily!