WASHINGTON (January 9, 2002) -- One of the most important pro-life debates ever will occur in the U.S. Senate as early as February or March. The Senate will debate whether to approve legislation to ban the cloning of human embryos.

Please urge ALL U.S. senators to support the crucial legislation (sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback) that would truly ban human cloning (H.R. 2505, S. 790), and to oppose "clone and kill" legislation that would permit the establishment of human embryo farms, such as Senator Feinstein's S. 1758.

ACTION REQUIRED

Beginning immediately, pro-life citizens should write and phone the offices of both U.S. Senators for their states.
(E-mail may also be used, but be sure to include a regular mailing address in the e-mail. Senators' e-mail addresses may be obtained at the website www.senate.gov.)
Please utilize newsletters, church bulletins, call-in radio shows, and other means to alert other pro-life citizens to this crucial fight. Also, write short letters to the letters editors of local newspapers, highlighting the critical votes that senators will soon cast.

Here are the key message points:

• Urge the senators to vote for legislation sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.) to ban the cloning of human embryos (H.R. 2505, S. 790).
• Urge the senators to oppose the counterproposal, sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.) (S. 1758), that would permit the cloning of human embryos and the establishment of human embryo farms. The Feinstein bill is misleadingly described as a "ban on human cloning," but it defines "human cloning" in a manner that allows human embryos to be created by cloning, while making it a crime to allow any such human embryo to live by implanting him or her in a womb. This "clone and kill" sham must be defeated before the Senate can pass a true ban on human cloning.
• If you obtain information on any senator's position (including information reported in the press), please forward it to NRLC by e-mail to Legfederal@aol.com, or by regular mail to NRLC, Federal Legislation, 512-10th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20004-1401.

NOTE: Do not assume that pro-abortion senators are necessarily opposed to the Brownback-Weldon-Stupak legislation. The genuine ban on human cloning bill is receiving strong support from a number of organizations that are not pro-life on issues such as abortion, but which believe that human cloning -- including the cloning of human embryos -- must be banned immediately. These groups include the United Methodist Church, the International Center for Technology Assessment, and Friends of the Earth (a well-known environmental organization). Moreover, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) has taken no position on the issue of banning human cloning.
On the other hand, do not assume that every pro-life senator will automatically vote for the Brownback-Weldon-Stupak legislation. Some might be confused by claims by the bio-tech lobby that so-called "therapeutic cloning" is necessary to advance medical research. It is important that they understand that a vote in favor of the Feinstein proposal is a vote in favor of human embryo farms and a "clone and kill" policy.

HOW TO CONTACT SENATORS

PHONE CALLS can be directed to the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask for your senator's office. Once connected, explain that you are a constituent, politely convey your position, and ask for a written response explaining the senator's position.

REGULAR MAIL can be sent to Senator _____________, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510.

E-MAIL addresses for each senator are available from the Senate website at www.senate.gov. Be sure to include your regular mailing address in the text of your e-mails, so that the senators know that the message comes from their constituents. For E-mail to Virginia senators, click here for Senator George Allen and Senator John Warner

PUBLIC EVENTS: Congress is in recess until January 23, and many senators are participating in public events in their home states. Take advantage of any opportunities to speak directly with senators about this urgent issue.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Some biotechnology corporations are working hard to perfect techniques that would allow them to mass-produce human embryos through the use of cloning. In November, one firm, Advanced Cell Technology of Worchester, Massachusetts, claimed that it had successfully cloned several human embryos, who died almost immediately. The biotech corporations wish to mass-produce the embryos in order to "harvest" their stem cells, or to use them as human guinea pigs for various types of laboratory research. While the researchers involved sometimes refer to these practices as "therapeutic cloning," there is nothing "therapeutic" for the embryos, who would be killed in the research. On July 31, 2001, the House of Representatives passed the Weldon-Stupak Human Cloning Prohibition Act (H.R. 2505), which would make it a criminal offense to create a human embryo by cloning. Since then, pro-life Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.) has been pressing for Senate action on that bill or on S. 790, a very similar bill introduced by Brownback. In November, pro-abortion Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), who opposes the ban, reluctantly agreed to allow the Senate to consider the issue in February or March. (See November NRL News, page 12.) However, the Senate will consider not only the Brownback legislation, but also competing sham legislation that would permit human embryo cloning. In order to try to block the real ban on cloning, the powerful Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) is backing legislation such as that introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), S. 1758. This bill is misleadingly labeled as a "prohibition" on "human cloning," but in reality the bill would allow the cloning of any number of human embryos, while forbidding anyone to implant any of these embryos in a womb. "The Feinstein bill, which appears to have the backing of the Senate Democratic leadership and the powerful Biotechnology Industry Organization, would pave the way for the establishment of human embryo farms in the United States," commented NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. "The Feinstein bill is not a true ban on human cloning, but rather a federal mandate that all cloned human embryos must die in lethal experimentation. The Feinstein bill would even nullify the laws of states that have already passed laws to prevent the cloning of human embryos, such as those enacted by Michigan and Virginia."

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information on the human cloning issue is available on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org under "Federal Legislation: Killing Human Embryos." A number of excellent factsheets on the human cloning issue have been issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. They are available at the USCCB website at www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/bioethic/clonelet121401.htm. In addition, "Americans to Ban Cloning," a recently formed coalition of anti-cloning groups, has launched a website that contains much useful information: www.cloninginformation.org. See "Broad-Based Coalition Opposes Human Cloning," December NRL News, page 6.

SENATE SPONSORS OF GOOD AND BAD BILLS ON HUMAN CLONING

As of January 8, 2002, the following U.S. Senators had sponsored the true ban on human cloning, S. 790, sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.), which is very similar to the Weldon-Stupak bill, H.R. 2505, that was approved by the House of Representatives on July 31, 2001: Shelby (R-Al.), Sessions (R-Al.), Hutchinson (R-Ar.), Kyl (R-Az.), Bunning (R-Ky.), Bond (R-Mo.), Helms (R-NC), Robert Smith (R-NH), Ensign (R-Nv.), DeWine (R-Ohio), Voinovich (R-Ohio), Inhofe (R-Ok.), and Bennett (R-Utah).
Eight senators have sponsored the competing "clone and kill" bill introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), S. 1758. This bill is misleadingly labeled as a "human cloning prohibition," but in reality it would permit so-called "therapeutic cloning" -- that is, it would allow the cloning of human embryos, but forbid these embryos to be placed in a womb. The sponsors are, in addition to Feinstein: Boxer (D-Ca.), Miller (D-Ga.), Durbin (D-Il.), Kennedy (D-Mass.), Mikulski (D-Md.), Corzine (D-NJ), and Clinton (D-NY).
You can obtain up-to-date lists of the cosponsors and status of these bills (or any other congressional legislation) on the congressional website known as "Thomas," thomas.loc.gov.

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