Date of Alert: February 7, 2002

One of the most important pro-life debates ever will occur in the U.S. Senate in 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 (S. 1899, sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback) that would truly ban human cloning, and to oppose "clone and kill" legislation that would permit the establishment of human embryo farms (such as Senator Harkin's S. 1893 and Senator Feinstein's S. 1758).

ACTION REQUIRED

Beginning immediately, pro-life citizens should phone, fax, and/or e-mail the offices of both U.S. Senators for their states.
Because of heightened security on Capitol Hill, regular mail is being delayed for long periods, and SHOULD NOT BE relied on at this time.
Senators' e-mail addresses, and in some cases fax numbers, may be obtained at the website www.senate.gov. (Always be sure to include your regular return mailing address in e-mails, so that the senator's staff can see that you are a constituent.)
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 columns 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 (S. 1899).
• Urge the senators to oppose the counterproposals, sponsored by Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) (S. 1893) and Diane Feinstein (D-Ca.) (S. 1758), that would permit the cloning of human embryos and the establishment of human embryo farms. These bills are falsely labeled as bans on "human cloning," but in reality they are worded 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. These "clone and kill" shams 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 (preferred), or by fax to (202) 347-3668, or by regular mail to NRLC, Federal Legislation, 512-10th Street Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20004-1401.

HOW TO CONTACT SENATORS:

• PHONE CALLS to Virginia Senators: Senator Allen can be reached at 202-224-4024; Senator Warner can be reached at 202-224-2023. Other senators can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Once connected, explain that you are a constituent, politely convey your position against cloning HUMAN EMBRYOS, and ask for a written response explaining the senator's position.
• E-MAIL can be sent to Virginia Senators using these hot links for Senator George Allen and Senator John Warner. E-mail addresses for other senators 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 constituents.
• FAXES can be sent to Virginia Senator Allen at 202-224-5432, and Senator Warner at 202-224-2023.
• PUBLIC EVENTS: Senators often visit their home states to participate in public events. Take advantage of any opportunities to speak directly with senators about this urgent issue.

DON'T ASSUME!

Do not assume that pro-abortion senators are necessarily opposed to the Brownback legislation. The proposed ban on cloning human embryos 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. One pro-abortion senator, Mary Landrieu (D-La.), has already co-sponsored the Brownback bill.
On the other hand, do not assume that every pro-life senator will automatically vote for the Brownback legislation. Some are confused by claims by the bio-tech lobby and some research advocacy groups that so-called "therapeutic cloning" is necessary to advance medical science. It is important that they understand that a vote in favor of the Harkin or Feinstein proposals is a vote in favor of human embryo farms and a "clone and kill" policy.

LISTS OF SENATE SPONSORS OF THE GOOD AND BAD HUMAN CLONING BILLS

As of February 5, 2002, neither Virginia senator has sponsored a cloning bill. The following 18 U.S. Senators had sponsored the genuine ban on human cloning, sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.), S. 1899: Shelby (R-Al.), Sessions (R-Al.), Hutchinson (R-Ar.), Kyl (R-Az.), Bunning (R-Ky.), Landrieu (D-La.), Bond (R-Mo.), Hagel (R-Ne.), Helms (R-NC), Gregg (R-NH), Robert Smith (R-NH), Ensign (R-Nv.), DeWine (R-Ohio), Voinovich (R-Ohio), Inhofe (R-Ok.), Santorum (R-Pa.), and Bennett (R-Utah).
Four senators have sponsored the competing "clone and kill" bill introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), S. 1893. Harkin's co-sponsors are Specter (R-Pa.), Boxer (D-Ca.), and Reid (D-Nv.).
In addition, eight senators have sponsored the similar "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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Further information on the human cloning issue is available in this recent NRLC update. Also, information can be found 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.

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