This is a top priority congressional alert. Please forward this alert immediately to all appropriate e-mail lists and activate telephone trees. For further information, see www.nrlc.org or contact the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) Federal Legislative Office, Legfederal@aol.com, (202) 626-8820. See also NRLC Letter to House on Greenwood clone-and-kill bill.

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on one of the most important pro-life issues ever within days -- probably on Tuesday, July 31.

The House will choose between two radically different approaches to the issue of human cloning.

One choice, backed by National Right to Life and other pro-life groups, is the Weldon-Stupak bill (H.R. 2505), which would ban the cloning of human embryos to be killed for experimentation -- a policy supported by 8-to-1 margins in recent polls.

The other choice, pushed by Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-Pa.) as H.R. 2608, paves the way to a near future in America when human embryos would be mass produced as medical commodities, and in which it would be a federal crime to allow a cloned human embryo to live.

The Weldon-Stupak bill (1) DOES NOT restrict the practice of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in any way; (2) DOES NOT deal with the important but separate issue of whether the federal government should fund stem cell research on human embryos who were created through IVF and who are currently in frozen storage; and (3) explicitly ALLOWS the use of cloning methods to produce any "cells other than human embryos," or to produce tissues or organs.

In order to pass the Weldon-Stupak bill, it is first necessary to defeat the Greenwood "clone and kill" measure, which will be voted on first as a "substitute amendment." The Greenwood bill would provide for federal approval for bio-tech firms to set up what pro-life groups call "human embryo farms" or "human embryo production lines" during the years just ahead -- for the sole purpose of killing the embryos for medical purposes. The firms refer to this practice as "therapeutic cloning" or "research cloning," but pro-life groups call it "clone and kill." The Greenwood bill would actually make it a federal crime for anyone to try to save the life of any cloned embryo by implanting him or her in a womb.

Between now and the vote, waves of lobbyists from the wealthy bio-tech industry will descend on Capital Hill to try to win approval of the Greenwood clone-and-kill substitute amendment.

ALL House members -- including those who support legal abortion -- must receive massive numbers of phone calls from constituents. The message is simple:

"I urge Congressman _________ to vote AGAINST the Greenwood clone-and-kill substitute amendment, and in favor of the Weldon-Stupak bill (H.R. 2505). The Greenwood clone-and-kill amendment provides federal approval for bio-tech firms to set up human embryo farms, where human embryos would be mass produced only to be killed and used as medical commodities. The clone-and-kill bill would make it a federal crime to allow any cloned embryo to live."

Calls should go to the congressman's Washington office -- the Capitol Switchboard number is (202) 225-3121 -- and also to his local office(s).

If a congressional office gives a definite response on how the congressman will vote on the Greenwood clone-and-kill substitute and/or on the Weldon-Stupak bill, please report that response to NRLC by e-mail (Legfederal@aol.com) or phone (202-626-8820).

VSHL is the Virginia affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.