From the Desk of Phil Burress
President of Citizens for Community Values
Citizens' E-Courier · April 28, 2008
Legislative Alert
Topic: Committee Stalls Vote on Human Cloning
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Columbus, OH - Ohio's Ban on Human Cloning - SB 174 - has had multiple hearings but a committee vote has yet to occur in the Senate Judiciary Civil Justice Committee. Even though SB 174 has been under review for a year with widely publicized expert testimony supporting the ban, it has received very little opposition.
Sadly, it seems some are more interested in putting experimental science ahead of medical ethics. "We don't want to put [state] money forward and at the same time scare away any research that might take place in the state of Ohio," one committee member told the Associated Press on April 25, 2008. TAKE ACTION
The Ohio Senate Judiciary Civil Justice Committee meets again Tuesday, April 29, 2008 for possible vote on this bill. Please contact committee members and ask them to SUPPORT passage of Ohio's Human Cloning Ban with no language changes and no amendments.
Also, ask them to OPPOSE the 'clone and kill' amendment, that would allow for human life to be created, experimented on and then destroyed. While no one is opposed to research and medical advancement, it must be grounded in the basic tenet that ALL human life is precious and deserving of our protection. Supporters want to play a game of semantics by trying to differentiate between types of human cloning.
If you reside in Ohio, find your State Senator by going to: http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/SenateZipSearch.html
Senate Judiciary Civil Justice Committee
Chairman David Goodman, dgoodman@mailr.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-8064
Sen. Steve Buehrer, SD01@mailr.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-8150
Sen. Keith Faber, SD12@mailr.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-7584
Sen. Teresa Fedor, fedoroffice@maild.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-5204
Sen. Eric Kearney, Senatorkearney@maild.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-5980
Sen. Lance Mason, senatormason@maild.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-4583
Sen. Kirk Schuring, SD29@mailr.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-0626
Sen. Bill Seitz, sd08@mailr.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-8068
Sen. Steve Stivers, sd16@mailr.sen.state.oh.us , 614-466-0101
FACTS about SB 174 and Human Cloning
- All cloning, whether therapeutic or reproductive, is the same thing - somatic cell nuclear transfer. All cloning reproduces a human being at the embryonic stage.
- Any legislation that is not a comprehensive ban on human cloning would allow for clone and kill technique.
- Those who oppose SB 174 want to create a human embryo, experiment on it, and then destroy it.
- Both "reproductive" and "therapeutic" cloning use exactly the same techniques to create the clone, and the cloned embryos are indistinguishable. The process, as well as the product, is identical. The only distinction is the purpose for use of the embryo - either transfer to a uterus in the hopes of a live birth, or destruction in the hopes of a medical miracle (clone and kill).
- The real successes are seen with adult stem cell research. SB 174 only bans human cloning. It does not address embryonic stem cell research, nor any stem cell research. It does not restrict any vital or viable medical research.
- No human life should begin and end as the subject of an experiment. A process that knowingly encourages human life to be created, manipulated for research, and ultimately destroyed is immoral and should be prohibited.
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