News from CAMR

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I received this news of more attacks on stem cell research today. See below.

Remember that a four year moratorium translates to NO stem cell research for

about 5-8 years due to funding after that.

Take care, Bill Werre

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Urgent! Action Alert

THE PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS ISSUED REPORT

CALL THE WHITE HOUSE

AND YOUR SENATORS

The President?s Council on Bioethics Released Their Report on Human Cloning.

The Report Calls for a Four-Year Moratorium on Therapeutic Cloning for Important

Medical Research

Tell the White House and Your Senators MORATORIUM = BAN

Please Take a Few Minutes to Visit the

Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research Website (www.camradvocacy.org)

and Take Action In Support of

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Research (SCNT)

The President?s Council on Bioethics released their report on Thursday, July

11th. The report advises the President there should be a four-year moratorium

on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT, commonly referred to as therapeutic

cloning). The report is an effort by Leon Kass to influence the Senate debate.

While a moratorium may sound like a compromise to many Senators, it is a thinly

veiled attempt at banning this important research. ALL Senators and the

President need to hear from YOU that a moratorium is equal to a ban.

Call the White House and let your voice be heard, a moratorium is equal to a

ban:

More than ever, we need you to contact your Senators to let them know that SCNT

is vital to stem cell research and must NOT be criminalized. Tell your Senators

a moratorium is not a compromise. Talking points and background information are

available on the CAMR Website (www.camradvocacy.org).

1. A moratorium isn?t necessary. SCNT/human therapeutic cloning research has

been studied and endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences.

2. A moratorium is a thinly veiled attempt at banning important research

outright. Proponents of a moratorium know how difficult it is to lift one ?

that is why they are proposing it.

3. A moratorium would mean that important medical breakthroughs are put on

hold indefinitely. People suffering from disease are told they will just have

to wait for their cures. Many of these patients do not have time to wait and a

research delay could be a death sentence.

4. A moratorium sends a strong signal to the scientific community that

SCNT/human therapeutic cloning should not be pursued. Further, it stigmatizes

this research as suspect. Researchers will be unwilling to pursue this

important area of science because of the stigma as well as the uncertainty about

whether it will ever become an accepted form of research.

5. Shutting down research today and restarting it when a moratorium is lifted

is illogical. It makes no sense to impose a moratorium that forces patients with

diseases to wait two years before researchers can get started on potential cures

and treatments. A moratorium will hold back science much longer than two years.

6. With a moratorium, SCNT research will continue in other countries while

disallowed in the United States ? the effects of this will be:

· Scientists may leave this country to perform research elsewhere.

· Americans will not have first access to the newest, and potentially

best, treatments because new products will be developed in other countries.

· The U.S. will surrender its ability to lead the world not only in

research, but to set the ethical and regulatory standards about how this

research should be conducted.

7. Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Orrin Hatch

(R-UT), and Kennedy (D-MA) have joined together to sponsor S. 2439, the

?Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2002.? The act would ban reproductive cloning

to create children, but permit privately funded research involving somatic cell

nuclear transfer (SCNT), sometimes called therapeutic cloning. This legislation

is widely supported among scientific, medical, and patient groups.

8. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Senator Landrieu (D-LA) have

sponsored S. 1899, a bill by 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.

Make your support of SCNT known!!!!!