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Renewed push for NJ Clone & Kill Bill, A2840/S1909. Immediate Action Needed!!!
NJ RTL ^ | 10.12.03

Posted on 10/12/2003 7:47:10 PM PDT by Coleus

New Jersey Right to Life
Renewed push for NJ Clone & Kill Bill, A2840/S1909. Immediate Action Needed!!!

Renewed Push for A2840/S1909 NJ Clone & Kill Bill

Take Action!

Immediate Action Needed!!
 
The article below confirms there is a renewed push to get A2840/S1909 through the Assembly when the legislature returns after the November 4 election.

Trenton Times article

Please contact your 2 Assembly members immediately before the election to find out where they stand on this issue. Urge them to vote No on this legislation and "No" on any amendments. You can email your legislators from this page by going to the box that says "Take Action Now" and then fill in your required zip code.

On February 10, 2003, A2840/S1909 was pulled from the Assembly Voting Board List due to lack of support for the bill. The bill previously passed the State Senate and was released out of the Assembly Health Committee last February. As stated in the above article, the sponsor and the biotech industry are pressuring assembly members to support the bill and will try to bring it up again after the November election. Please read the following articles for background on the legislation.

Life Can Win

Grass Roots Campaign Sinks NJ Cloning Bill

Christopher Reeve Republicans

Here Come the Jersey Clones

On February 3, 2003, the Assembly Health Committee released A2840/S1909 out of committee on a party line vote with six Democrats voting for the bill and two Republicans abstaining. The Committee heard 4 hours of testimony from witnesses, an overwhelming majority of whom were opposed to the legislation. Please read the statement of the Minority Members of the Assembly Health Committee below. Continue to contact your two Assembly members and urge them to vote "No" on A2840/S1909.

NJRTL provided copies of a legal opinion addressed to NJRTL from Professor Gerard Bradley, et al. to Committee members as well as a letter written to Governor Jim McGreevey from four members of the President’s Council on Bioethics outlining some grave problems with the legislation. After the committee was made aware that the bill would allow therapeutic cloning, forced abortions, reproductive cloning, and the commercial trafficking in baby body parts, the committee released the bill over the objections of NJRTL who asked that the bill not be released from committee, but rather held for further discussion. Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, the Chair of the Committee indicated that the sponsor would review the bill, and, possibly add amendments on the floor when the bill comes up for a vote before the full Assembly. The Senate bill was merged with the Assembly bill, which means they are now identical.

Click here to read this correspondence.

Letter to Governor McGreeevey from Members of the President's Council on Bioethics on A2840/S1909

Legal analysis by Professor Gerard Bradley, et al. on S1909/A2840

The State Senate had previously passed S1909 on December 16, 2002. At a January 12, 2003 press conference and during the January 14, 2003 State of the State Address, Governor McGreevey demanded that the Assembly pass the measure and vowed to sign it. Click here to see how your NJ Senators voted.

12/16/02 NJ Senate Vote on S1909/A2840

Action needed:

Continue to contact your two Assembly members and urge them to vote “NO” on A2840/S1909 and “NO” on any amendments that may be offered.

Here is a link to the bill.

Bill A2840


ASSEMBLY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES STATEMENT TO A2840
MINORITY STATEMENT
Submitted by
Assemblyman Samuel D. Thompson, Ph.D.
and Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk

Due to both the volume and content of the extensive testimony heard by the committee today, we cannot support the release of this bill at this time. Further, we believe the majority acted with undue haste in releasing the bill without taking time to give full consideration to the practical and ethical questions raised in the testimony.

The committee received testimony from doctors who specialize in medical research, and all concurred that evidence of the therapeutic benefits of embryonic stem cells is inconclusive. There is no scientific proof that use of these cells will produce the cures and remedies that so many advocates of this bill are promising. Further, there was unanimous agreement among scientists presenting testimony that the current use of adult stem cells has produced widespread therapeutic results for patients suffering from various debilitating ailments.

Therefore, it would be prudent to further enhance and improve the research and study of the medical use of adult stem cells(which produce proven therapeutic benefits) rather than embryonic stem cells which have yet to provide any therapeutic value - yet introduce staggering moral and ethical ramifications.

Testimony presented to the committee raises numerous questions regarding:

the definition of "newborn stages," and the potential this bill creates for the forced abortion of cloned embryos; the definition of "valuable consideration" which permits payment for implantation of cloned embryonic cells; the creation of a climate which replaces the current medical demand for aborted baby parts with cloned baby parts; the potential for medical abuses and exploitation of women and children; and the creation of a new class of human - one designated for the purpose of experimentation.

The committee was asked repeatedly to hold the bill for proper
consideration of potentially grave consequences, yet the bill was
released from committee with the majority's full endorsement and the promise that the sponsor would address the aforementioned concerns before the bill reaches the Assembly floor.

We believe the better course would have been for the committee to heed the calls for more careful consideration of the testimony and the issues raised, and to properly address them forthrightly at the committee level rather than hastily report the bill now with vague promises of future actions.

Spinning Stem Cells
A damning reporting pattern.
By Wesley J. Smith

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-smith042302.asp

The Transhumanists
The next great threat to human dignity.
By Wesley J. Smith

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-smith092002.asp

Slanting the Science
http://www.rossolson.org/bioethics/stem_cell.html

 
Aborted Fetuses are used in many childhood Vaccines

 
 
Is your Doctor a member of the AMA?  Look and see what they endorse.
 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman NEIL M. COHEN
Assemblyman
Neil M. Cohen, Democrat
District Office:  985 Stuyvesant Ave., Union, NJ 07083  (908)-624-0880

Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON,  J.D. Seton Hall University
District 20 (Union) Assemblyman John F. McKeon, Democrat
District Office:  4 Sloan St., Suite D & E, South
Orange, NJ 07079  (973)-275-1113

District 27 (Essex)
Assemblyman MIMS HACKETT, JR.
Assemblyman
Mims  Hackett, Democrat
District Office:  15 Village Plaza, Suite 1B, South Orange, NJ 07079  (973)-762-1886

District 27 (Essex)
Assemblywoman JOAN M. QUIGLEY
Assemblywoman
Joan M. Quigley, Democrat
 District Office:  The Hamilton Park Foundry, 242 10th St., Suite 101 , Jersey City, NJ 07302  (201)-217-4614

District 32 (Bergen and Hudson) Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Guear
Assemblyman Gary L. Guear, Democrat
District Office:  1700 Whitehorse-Hamilton Square Rd., Unit C-4, Hamilton, NJ 08690  609-587-4644
 and Assemblywoman Weinberg
Assemblywoman
Loretta  Weinberg, Democrat
District Office:  545 Cedar Lane, Teaneck, NJ 07666  (201)-928-0100

Assembly Speaker Sires allowes all bills out of Committee on which to be voted Albio  Sires, Democrat  District Office:  303 58th Street, West New York, NJ 07093  201-854-0900

AsmCohen@njleg.orgAsmHackett@njleg.org; AsmMcKeon@njleg.org; AswQuigley@njleg.org;
AswWeinberg@njleg.org

AsmGuear@njleg.org ; asmsires@njleg.org;


Please support these bills:
 
Support A3206 
A3206 "New Jersey Abortion Statistical Data Law"
 
I think it would be prudent for us to support this bill since NJ is one of a few states in the USA which does not mandate clinics and hospitals to report their abortion statistics.  Although the bill doesn't touch upon RU-486 and fetuses discarded during in-vitro/vivo fertilizations it's a start in the right direction where at least we will know what's going on in hospitals and abortion mills.
 
 
 
Find your Legislator Here:
Toll Free (800) 792-8630
 
Life Begins at Conception

S1771 Establishes certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth.
Health and Human Services 
 
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2002/Bills/S2000/1771_I1.HTM
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2002/Bills/S2000/1771_S1.HTM
 

 
A1936 Establishes special license plates to fund certain programs for pregnant women.
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2002/Bills/A2000/1936_I1.HTM


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: abortion; abortionlist; babyharvesting; blasts; catholiclist; cloneandkill; clonenkill; cloning; democrat; fetalharvesting; fetalstemcells; frankenstein; humancloning; mcgreevey; newjersey; nj; njrtl; njstemcells; prolife; sprint; stemcells
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
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To: nickcarraway; Mr. Silverback; Canticle_of_Deborah
* If you're interested
21 posted on 12/16/2003 11:18:10 PM PST by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: ElIguana
* if you're inclined
22 posted on 12/16/2003 11:25:20 PM PST by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: MHGinTN
NJ needs MAJOR reform.
23 posted on 12/17/2003 10:41:00 AM PST by Calpernia (Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: MHGinTN
If you would like to make your book an eBook download, I volunteer server space.
24 posted on 12/17/2003 10:44:00 AM PST by Calpernia (Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: MHGinTN
Have you considered putting it online? You'd reach a big audience.
25 posted on 12/17/2003 2:23:22 PM PST by Canticle_of_Deborah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Canticle_of_Deborah
Actually, Calpernia is working on it! Will post&ping a thread with short essay, to link to the posted manuscript when it's ready.
26 posted on 12/17/2003 2:34:51 PM PST by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: MHGinTN; PaulNYC; tsomer; Mixer; MattinNJ; OceanKing; TomT in NJ; Coleus; agrace; ...
The NJ RTL is a Non-Sectarian/non-partisan organization but off the record, they were aghast, to say the least when they found out that Gov. McGreevey was going to sign the bill on the Lord's day, Sunday, during advent, on the Sunday before Christmas; FYI the Governor ran on an Irish Catholic platform promoting his family values with his Nurse Mother and Marine Corps/Drill Instructor Father. Freepers from all states are encouraged to call the Governor, once cloning starts here, other states are sure to follow.

New Jersey Right to Life
Act Now! Governor McGreevey to sign Clone and Kill Bill on Sunday, December 21, 2003

 December 17, 2003

Dear Pro-Life Friends:

I just received word that Governor McGreevey is supposed to sign A2840/S1909 on Sunday, December 21, 2003, right before Christmas

This bill is an assault on humanity!! 

Please deluge his office with phone calls and faxes and emails.  Please do all three.  Urge him to veto this bill!

His phone number is 609 292-6000.  Fax number is (609) 292-3454
e-mail: http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html 

December 19, 2003
 
 
Dear Pro-Life Friends:
 
Below is a Joint Statement from NJ Members of Congress, Chris Smith, Michael Ferguson and Scott Garrett issued today urging Governor McGreevey to reconsider A2840/S2909. Please continue to call and fax Governor McGreevey. Urge him to Veto S1909/A2840.  
PLEASE ACT NOW!  PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR EMAIL AND PHONE NETWORKS!  CALL GOVERNOR MCGREEVEY ASAP AT 609 292-6000, EMAIL HIM AT
 
 
Thank you
Marie Tasy

The New Jersey State Legislature has narrowly passed the most extreme and ethically flawed pro-cloning legislation in the country, which has been sent to Governor McGreevey for his consideration.  In response, three of New Jersey’s U.S. Representatives – Chris Smith (R-Hamilton), Mike Ferguson (R-Warren), and Scott Garrett (R-Wantage) made the following statement urging the Governor to carefully and soberly reconsider the full legal and moral ramifications of signing this unprecedented proposal into law.

“We urge the Governor take a step back from a historic and troubling threshold that ought not be crossed lightly.

“The bill being considered for signature on McGreevey’s desk would not only allow the cloning of human beings for research purposes, but would also allow cloned human embryos to be implanted into a woman’s womb, allow the cloned human to develop to the fetal stage, and then use this human child for research where he or she could be killed for their ‘spare parts.’

“This legislation will launch New Jersey blindly into the vanguard of terrible human rights violations and grisly human experimentation.  We are literally facing the prospect of creating a human clone, and implanting this cloned baby into a woman’s womb.  Once this happens, nothing can stop the world’s first human clone from being born and starting a horrible new era of human history.

“As advocates for increased funding to support life-affirming biomedical research, we fully understand the drive to cure debilitating diseases and to improve health care for those who are suffering.  But allowing human fetus farms for research is not an ethical or practical solution.

“Rather, the priority should be to fund the most ethical and the most promising avenues of research – adult stem cell research – which could find cures that will not exploit human life and incite controversy.  Each dollar that goes toward projects that clone humans and destroy human life at its earliest stage of development takes away from ethical research that is moving forward at an incredible rate and that does not have the ethical baggage attached to human cloning.

“Furthermore, proponents of human cloning used a lame duck session to jam through the most extreme legislation in the country.  We commend the significant number of Assembly members who voted against this deeply flawed bill, and we urge the Governor to step back from the brink of a wholly preventable disaster.

“The use of adult stem cell and cord blood stem cell research is ethical and successful. Adult stem cells are already being used to successfully treat humans suffering from cancers, autoimmune diseases, anemias, immunodeficiencies, bone and cartilage deformities, corneal scarring, stroke, heart damage, Parkinson’s, and skin damage.

“Adult and cord blood stem cells are able to generate virtually all tissue types; they can multiply almost indefinitely to be used for treatment; they have proven successful in laboratory culture and in animal models; and they have the ability to find and repair damage.  Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells do not cause tumors, and they do not have the problem of transplant rejection.

More Info. on Cloning

27 posted on 12/19/2003 4:21:38 PM PST by Coleus (God is Pro-Life & Straight & gave us an innate predisposition for protection and self preservation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Coleus
Thanks for the ping!
28 posted on 12/19/2003 9:50:22 PM PST by Alamo-Girl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: All
Due to the fact that Sen. Dick Codey's Father Died, the Bill signing for this Sunday is postponed, there is still time to call, fax and e-mail Governor McGreevey (do all three) and request that he do not sign the bill! Renewed push for NJ Clone & Kill Bill, A2840/S1909. Immediate Action Needed!!!
29 posted on 12/21/2003 12:38:46 PM PST by Coleus (God is Pro-Life & Straight & gave us an innate predisposition for protection and self preservation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: All
Stem-cell cloning bill to become law Sunday?!Sources say New Jersey governor poised to sign 'disastrous' measure this weekend

December 20, 2003

New Jersey's controversial stem-cell research law, passed earlier this week by the state Assembly is likely to become state law tomorrow, say pro-life opponents of what they have long nicknamed the "clone-and-kill bill."

Although Liz Ortiz of the governor's office said she had "no information" as to when Gov. James McGreevey would sign the bill, New Jersey Right to Life Public and Legislative Affairs Director Marie Tasy said an inside source alerted her that the governor plans to sign it into law Sunday. The bill, S1909/A2840, would become effective immediately.

In a telephone interview, Tasy said the global and national implications of the bill are "horrific." In a press statement, she wrote, "Under this bill, human lives will be treated as a commodity, creating classes of lesser humans to be sacrificed. …"

Last Monday, the Assembly passed the bill that would make that state the second in the nation, after California, to permit embryonic stem-cell research.

Shortly after George W. Bush became president, Congress restricted research on cells taken from embryos since 2001, while allowing research on certain previously harvested "strains" of cells. Under the new law, New Jersey's pharmaceutical biomedical firms could experiment on live cells from embryos discarded at fertility clinics.

Pro-life groups and Catholic leaders campaigned to block the bill – even declaring success last February when the New Jersey Assembly voted at the last minute to kill the bill – after the Senate had passed it and the governor said he'd sign it. This time, however, the bill has passed both houses and it awaits the governor's promised signature.

Stem cells, which are created in the first few days of life, are "undifferentiated" and can therefore be induced artificially to grow into different types of tissue, prompting researchers to believe they hold the key to the creation of new treatments for diseases such as multiple sclerosis and cancer.

Since stem cells can be harvested only by destroying a fetus shortly after fertilization, such legislation has been fiercely opposed by anti-abortion groups.

Widespread opposition

Describing the effect of the legislation as "breathtaking, unprecedented and widely regarded as morally disastrous," Notre Dame law professor Gerard Bradley says "the legislation authorizes commercial traffic in the body parts of human beings 'cultivated' (the bill's word) up to the moment of birth." Bradley added, "Since the only way to 'cultivate' embryos is by implantation in a woman's womb, the bills expressly authorize payment for 'implantation' and 'transplantation' of embryos."

Four members of the President's Council on Bioethics wrote McGreevey expressing "grave concern" about the bill, when it was being considered by the state Senate. Council members William Hurlbut of Stanford University, Robert George of Princeton, Alfonso Gomez of Georgetown University, and Gilbert Meilanander of Valpuaiso University, all medical doctors, signed the letter:

Please pause to consider whose cadaver the tissue is to be derived from. It is … a human being – who would be brought into being by cloning and, presumably, implanted and permitted to develop to the desired stage of physical maturation for the purpose of being killed for the harvesting of his or her tissues.

And in a dramatic appeal late yesterday, three of New Jersey's U.S. representatives – Chris Smith, Mike Ferguson and Scott Garrett – implored their state's governor to reconsider signing the bill:

We urge the governor take a step back from a historic and troubling threshold that ought not be crossed lightly.

The bill being considered for signature on McGreevey's desk would not only allow the cloning of human beings for research purposes, but would also allow cloned human embryos to be implanted into a woman's womb, allow the cloned human to develop to the fetal stage, and then use this human child for research where he or she could be killed for their "spare parts."

This legislation will launch New Jersey blindly into the vanguard of terrible human-rights violations and grisly human experimentation. We are literally facing the prospect of creating a human clone, and implanting this cloned baby into a woman's womb. Once this happens, nothing can stop the world's first human clone from being born and starting a horrible new era of human history.

As advocates for increased funding to support life-affirming biomedical research, we fully understand the drive to cure debilitating diseases and to improve health care for those who are suffering. But allowing human fetus farms for research is not an ethical or practical solution.

Rather, the priority should be to fund the most ethical and the most promising avenues of research – adult stem cell research – which could find cures that will not exploit human life and incite controversy. Each dollar that goes toward projects that clone humans and destroy human life at its earliest stage of development takes away from ethical research that is moving forward at an incredible rate and that does not have the ethical baggage attached to human cloning.

Furthermore, proponents of human cloning used a lame duck session to jam through the most extreme legislation in the country. We commend the significant number of Assembly members who voted against this deeply flawed bill, and we urge the governor to step back from the brink of a wholly preventable disaster.

The use of adult stem cell and cord blood stem cell research is ethical and successful. Adult stem cells are already being used to successfully treat humans suffering from cancers, autoimmune diseases, anemias, immunodeficiencies, bone and cartilage deformities, corneal scarring, stroke, heart damage, Parkinson's, and skin damage.

Adult and cord blood stem cells are able to generate virtually all tissue types; they can multiply almost indefinitely to be used for treatment; they have proven successful in laboratory culture and in animal models; and they have the ability to find and repair damage. Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells do not cause tumors, and they do not have the problem of transplant rejection.

Meanwhile, Colleen Parro, director of the Republican National Coalition for Life, and other pro-life leaders are urging constituents to express their concern over passage of the bill to the governor's office.

World Net Daily
30 posted on 12/21/2003 12:49:33 PM PST by Coleus (God is Pro-Life & Straight & gave us an innate predisposition for protection and self preservation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All
 
New Jersey Right to Life

New Jersey Set to Affront Human Dignity; Statement by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity

January 2, 2004

Today is NOT a State Holiday.There is still time to call andfaxMcGreevey.Urge him to veto A2840/S1909. Phone (609) 292-6000. Fax (609) 292-3454. Please see thePress Release issued today by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity below.

From: Marie Tasy, Public & Legislative Affairs Director, New Jersey Right to Life, 113 North Avenue West, Cranford, NJ 07016

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity

Go To Home Page

PRESS RELEASE

Release Date: January 2, 2004

New Jersey Set to Affront Human Dignity
New Law Will Legalize Embryo Research, Cloning, and Fetal Harvesting

The New Jersey Legislature has passed a bill that, if signed by the Governor, would make the state one where some of the most terrible crimes against humanity can be legally perpetuated.

Promoters of the bill have argued that the legislation bans cloning and promotes embryonic stem cell research. However, bill S1909/A2840 will not only explicitly allow embryonic stem cell research, it will also allow somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning) and the development of unborn clones up until birth. It only explicitly prohibits cloning "an individual" which the bill defines as, "the replication of a human individual by cultivating a cell with genetic material [the SCNT cloning process] through the egg, embryo, fetal and newborn stages into a new human individual."

Legal analysis of the bill by Prof. Gerard Bradley at Notre Dame Law School currently available on the

http://www.cloninginformation.org/ web site has noted that any woman found carrying a cloned fetus would be required by law to abort her fetus, even if she decided not to do so. Since forced abortions are not likely, the birth of human clones is almost certain to result from this legislation. Prof. Bradley also points out that the bill, in effect, allows the creation of a market in embryonic and fetal body parts by allowing "reasonable payment" for services or purchases related to cloning and harvesting.

John F. Kilner, Ph.D., President of The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, says regarding the bill, "It is disturbing enough that this law--intentionally or unintentionally--will result in the birth of cloned human beings and the creation of fetal human beings explicitly in order to mine them for body parts. But it also weakens the legal protection of newborn infants by amazingly excluding them from the definition of a 'human being': human beings are not those who have developed through the embryonic and fetal 'stages', but only those who have developed through the newborn 'stage' as well."

Daniel McConchie, Director of Public Relations and Public Policy with The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity said, "This bill is the most explicit and extreme legalization of embryo research, cloning, and fetal organ farming in the world. If Governor McGreevey signs this bill, it will provide clear-cut protections for egregious human rights violations: the exploitation of even late-term fetuses as natural resources."

For more information about this bill, visit Americans to Ban Cloning http://www.cloninginformation.org/ or New Jersey State Legislature http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/ and search for bill S1909 or A2840.

Diocese Of Metuchen
Office of the Bishop

STEM CELL RESEARCH BILL POSES DIRE CONSEQUENCES
By The Most Rev. Paul G. Bootkoski, Bishop of Metuchen

When we hear about individuals selling their organs on the internet, babies being sold on the black market or scientists trying to clone human beings, we are appalled and call for an end to these inhumane actions. Yet here in New Jersey, we are heading straight towards all these horrific consequences if Gov. McGreevey signs the stem cell research bill (A2840, S1909) into law.

Passed by the Assembly this month, the stem cell bill allows for research with embryonic and adult stem cells, as well as cells from somatic nuclear transplantation.

The use of adult stem cells is morally acceptable, and is proving to be very successful. The same is not true for embryonic stem cells, which can only be derived by killing a living human embryo. Equally abhorrent, this bill would also allow for the cloning of human life using somatic nuclear transplantation. The bottom line is that this bill desecrates the sanctity of human life and is morally wrong.

How could our legislators have passed this bill? How could most individuals be unaware of its dire consequences? I believe it is because the bill, as written, is so complex it is easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. This is also an emotional issue which is easily oversimplified.

Studies have shown that embryonic stem cells have not helped a single human patient or demonstrated any therapeutic benefit. Adult stem cells, on the other hand, have produced many positive results, and they do not involve creating and destroying a human life.

The cloning aspect of the stem cell bill is equally disturbing and should outrage every human being.

Many people support the stem cell bill because they see it is the way to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease, and other devastating injuries and illnesses. They have been led to believe that only embryonic stem cells can provide these cures, and that is just not true.

According to the bill “somatic cell nuclear transplantation, shall…be permitted in this State.” I doubt that most people know what that means and that’s the problem. It is my understanding that those words equate to the scientific cloning procedure that was used to create “Dolly” the sheep. More bluntly, somatic cell nuclear transplantation means a human life is created. This human being can be implanted into a woman where it is grown, then harvested for its stem cells. Can you imagine! Life will be a commodity and our humanity will be changed forever.

I can only hope that our legislators did not understand or were misinformed about the ramifications of the stem cell bill that they passed. I pray that Gov. McGreevey will not make the same mistake. Life is too fragile, too vulnerable, and too sacred to be destroyed by the stroke of a pen. It is not too late for our Governor to withhold his signature from the bill. The future of life as we know it is in his hands.The St. John Neumann Pastoral Center • P.O. Box 191 • Metuchen, New Jersey 08840-0191 • (732) 562-1990

=================================================

From Fr. Peter West, www.priestsforlife.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Father Peter West
Date:December 30, 2003

Priests For Life Statement Urging Governor James McGreevey to

Veto A2840/S1909

NEW JERSEY STEM CELL/CLONING BILL:

AN ALL OUT ASSAULT ON HUMANITY

Dateline NY-- The New Jersey bill (A2840/S1909) passed by the Assembly on Monday, December 15 is unprecedented. This bill could have national or even international implications. A2840/S1909 expressly authorizes the creation of human embryos through "somatic cell nuclear transplantation which the President's Council on Bioethics unanimously agrees is the creation of a new human being by cloning. In addition, the bill authorizes the commercial traffic in the body parts of human beings "cultivated" up to the moment of birth.

Because cloning is defined in the proposed bill as "cultivating" the cell "through the egg, embryo, fetal and newborn stages into a new individual human individual," the prohibited conduct is drawn at the newborn stages, which this bill says is when a new individual human comes into existence. In other words, the only cloned humans outlawed by the bill are those in the "newborn stages" and the term "newborn stages" is not defined in the bill.

This bill is an abomination to humanity. Any elected Catholic official who has voted for this bill or is complicit in any way in aiding its passage has engaged in scandalous behavior which is "defined in the Catechism as establish[ing] laws or social structures leading to the decline of morals and the corruption of religious practice (Catechism para. 2284, et. seq.)" They have violated the moral order in a most grievous and public way.

The Holy Father has repeatedly said that stem cells for purposes of experimentation or treatment should never come from human embryos. Any treatment which claims to save human lives, yet is based upon the destruction of human life in its embryonic, fetal or newborn stage is logically and morally contradictory, as is any production of human embryos for the direct or indirect purpose of experimentation or eventual destruction.

We urge Governor McGreevey, a Catholic, to follow the teachings of his faith and veto this horrific bill. We implore Governor McGreevey to instead make ethical research using adult stem cell research one of the priorities of his administration.

==================================================

Family Research Council
801 G St. NW
Washington, DC 20001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 30, 2003
CONTACT: Bill Murray, (202) 393-2100
FOR RADIO: JP Duffy

NEW JERSEY POISED TO BECOME THE NATION'S
CLONE-TO-KILL CAPITOL

Gov. Jim McGreevey (D-NJ) is prepared to sign monumental pro-cloning legislation shortly after the New Year

WASHINGTON, D.C. * New Jersey's embattled and notoriously unpopular Governor, Jim McGreevey (D), has signaled that he will sign into law the nation's most sweeping pro-cloning legislation to date.

"If ever there was a piece of legislation which tramples the sanctity of life, it is the one Gov. McGreevey is poised to sign," said Connie Mackey, Family Research Council's Vice President for Government Affairs. "The new law would authorize New Jersey's large biotech industry to actually clone a human embryo, implant that embryo into a woman's womb, develop the embryo to the fetal stage and then kill it for 'research purposes.'

"Allowing human babies to be clon ed, implanted, and then killed for their parts combines the horrors of partial-birth abortion with the Frankenstein-like practices of human cloning that 90 percent of Americans oppose. This single piece of legislation will let the entire world know that New Jersey is the number one most hostile place for human life in recent memory.

===========================================

Paterson Pastors' Workshop Opposes Passage of Stem Cell Research Bill

The Paterson Pastors' Workshop, an inter-denominational group of
Christian clergy leaders representing 50 local congregations in Passaic County, have contacted Governor McGreevey's office expressing their urgent concern over his pending decision to sign the Stem Cell Research legislation into law this weekend.

In January 2003, the Paterson Pastors' Workshop purchased a quarter page statewide advertisement in the Star Ledger urging local citizens to contact their assembly represenatives in opposition to this bill. Thegroup feels strongly that harvesting human embryos for the purpose of scientific research, otherwise known as reproductive cloning, is an offense to God and violates human life. They have expressed, " it will be the poor, disenfranchised, minority women of our state who will be exploited and potentially harmed the most with this practice."

The group may be reached at 973-279-4118 for comment.

31 posted on 01/02/2004 9:29:47 PM PST by Coleus (Merry Christmas, Jesus is the Reason for the Season, Keep Christ in CHRISTmas and the X's out of it.)
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To: All
Stem cell debate continues as McGreevey prepares to sign bill allowing research
(1/3/04) EDISON - The debate over embryonic stem cell research will be forced into the statewide spotlight on Sunday when New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey is expected to sign a bill allowing it in New Jersey. While the biotech industry is applauding the measure, the governor's action is causing a backlash in the pro-life communities. The debate has essentially polarized religion against science.

Discussion about stem cell research received statewide attention when famed actor Christopher Reeve testified before a state Senate committee in 2002. He urged state legislators to pass a pioneering bill for stem cell research before scientists moved development to other states.

On Sunday, that bill is expected to become reality. Governor McGreevey is expected to sign the bill into law in front of the Kessler Rehabilitation Institute in West Orange. Pro-life groups plan to protest in upcoming weeks.

Some right-to-life supporters say stem cell research encourages human cloning, similar to the scientific breakthrough Dolly the sheep. The possibility of cloning in stem cell research is also raising concerns of members in the religious community. Basing their argument on an issue of morality, they believe more advancements should be made in adult stem cell research. They say experimentation on embryos is simply inhuman.

But proponents for stem cell research do not follow the same ideology. They argue "If anything is immoral it is to deny scientists access to unwanted embryos that are available at infertility clinics."

Share your views

http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=97967


32 posted on 01/05/2004 11:05:31 AM PST by Coleus (Merry Christmas, Jesus is the Reason for the Season, Keep Christ in CHRISTmas and the X's out of it.)
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To: 2ndMostConservativeBrdMember; afraidfortherepublic; Alas; al_c; american colleen; annalex; ...

McGreevey Signs Clone and Kill Bill

New  Jersey Right to Life
113 North Avenue West
Cranford, NJ  07016

For Immediate Release
Contact Marie Tasy, Public & Legislative Affairs Director
(732) 846-2000

McGREEVEY SIGNS CLONE AND KILL BILL
NJ BECOMES FIRST JURISDICTION TO LEGALIZE HUMAN
CLONING

GOV AND DEM LEADERS FULFILL COMMITMENT TO BIOTECH; SELL OUT HUMANITY 

January 4, 2004—New Jersey Right to Life, the state’s largest pro-life organization, with over 125,000 household members, has issued the following statement in response to the news that Governor McGreevey has signed A2840/S1909.


“The bill signed by Governor McGreevey today is a sinister, unprecedented, egregious affront to humanity,” said Marie Tasy, Public & Legislative Affairs for New Jersey Right to Life.  “This is truly a dark day for New Jersey,” she added.   Commenting on McGreevey’statement that he wants to make New Jersey the nation’s leader for medical research,” Ms Tasy said,  “It is extremely perverse and objectionable that his goal of making ‘New Jersey the nation’s leader for medical research’ includes the unethical  practice of human cloning and the harvesting and use of body parts of cloned humans in the embryonic and fetal stages of development which is authorized under this law.”  Tasy said the Governor ignored experts’ warnings about the morally disastrous consequences of the bill as well as the mounting opposition from the public urging him to veto A2840/S1909. 

Recalling the December 15 vote by the Assembly, Tasy said, “Democratic leaders made threats, twisted arms, and traded favors to get the razor-thin majority of 41 votes required for passage.”  She said that lawmakers and McGreevey deliberately tried to push it through before the Holidays because they believed the public would not be paying close attention to action occurring in Trenton. “The covert and strong-arm tactics employed by these lawmakers throughout the entire legislative process was reprehensible and truly an example of politics at its worst.” 

“Proponents continue to shamefully mislead individuals suffering with illness and disease by making false and unsubstantiated claims about human embryonic stem cells,” said Tasy.    “Unlike adult stem cells which are curing people, embryonic stem cells have never been used successfully in clinical trials in humans and carry significant risks, including immune rejection and tumor formation.”  Ms. Tasy said this fact was readily admitted by scientists who testified before the NJ Legislature in favor of these bills.

Tasy said, “This bill does not just limit destructive research to the human embryonic stage as Biotech Spokesman Christopher Reeve claims, but allows it all the way up through the fetal and newborn stages.   In signing this bill, the Governor and Democratic lawmakers have truly opened up a whole conundrum of legal problems which the sponsors refused to address.  The law will result in the creation of a foul climate where ghoulish human experimentation and organ harvesting will be performed and human embryo and fetal farms will flourish throughout our state.  The bill will allow Biotechnology companies to raise cloned babies to harvest stem cells or even body parts, and, allows ‘reasonable payment’ for embryonic or cadaveric fetal tissue production, implantation, transplantation and preservation costs.  Because the prohibited conduct of cloning a human being draws the line only at the newborn stage, abortions up to the day of delivery would be authorized under this legislation,” noted Tasy.

In a January, 27, 2003 letter to Governor McGreevey concerning S1909/A2840, four members of the President’s Council on Bioethics asked,  “What if a gestating woman has second thoughts and decides not to abort the developing fetus?  Would a court be asked to enforce a contract for abortion?”  According to Gerard Bradley, Professor of Law at Notre Dame University and 7 other law professors who analyzed the bill, “To avoid the crime of ‘cloning,’ a putative defendant would have to kill the child in the first weeks (or months) after birth.  But this would be murder.  Since no one may be convicted for conduct avoidable only by committing murder, the crime of ‘cloning’ is therefore non-existent.  By authorizing genetic replication in the first place, and by thus defining the crime of ‘cloning,’ these bills effectively authorize the creation of new people through cloning.”

http://www.njrtl.org/njgovletter.php
http://www.njrtl.org/ndlaw.php

“This law will allow human lives to be treated as a commodity, creating classes of lesser humans to be created and sacrificed for the good of humanity,” Tasy said.   “The unethical practices authorized under this law constitutes the ultimate desecration of human life.  The only notoriety McGreevey will gain is that he will forever be known as the unpopular Governor who signed an immoral decree in January, 2004, which opened the floodgates to unspeakable human rights violations and grisly human experimentation to satisfy the insatiable quest of Big Biotech,” said Tasy.


33 posted on 01/05/2004 11:16:57 AM PST by Coleus (Merry Christmas, Jesus is the Reason for the Season, Keep Christ in CHRISTmas and the X's out of it.)
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To: Coleus
It is already legal in California too, and NY and Illinois have bills pending. We need federal anti-cloning legislation pronto! Christopher Reeve should thank God he's alive instead of spitting in his face.
34 posted on 01/05/2004 2:57:59 PM PST by firebrand
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To: Coleus
Fraguela was never a real Republican, anyway, as I'm sure you know. He was a 'RAT from Hudson County who got beat in the primary and switched out of spite for his last session.
35 posted on 01/05/2004 3:02:08 PM PST by HostileTerritory
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To: Blue Jays
Blue Jays,

I understand where you're coming from on this. It's a tough decision but I stand with First Lady Nancy Reagan and Senator Orrin Hatch on this issue because of the possibility to ease so much suffering. I respect my FReeper colleagues who disagree with us.
36 posted on 01/05/2004 3:03:52 PM PST by HostileTerritory
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To: HostileTerritory
New Jersey, 'First in Cannibalism' ... great state motto don'tcha know.
37 posted on 01/05/2004 3:41:54 PM PST by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: HostileTerritory
Good Evening All-

"...I understand where you're coming from on this. It's a tough decision but I stand with Nancy Reagan and Orrin Hatch on this issue because of the possibility to ease so much suffering. I respect my FReeper colleagues who disagree with us..."

HostileTerritory, that's what makes FreeRepublic one of the most civilized boards on the Internet today. I'm certainly a hardcore Republican in every sense of the word, but my love for family and their health supercedes party ideology. I do recognize where others are coming from when promoting their viewpoint, and I consider them my friends.

Thanks for your kind words. :-)

~ Blue Jays ~

38 posted on 01/05/2004 7:52:15 PM PST by Blue Jays (Rock Hard, Ride Free)
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New Jersey Right to Life
Urgent - Immediate Action Needed to Oppose NJ Assembly Bill (A437)

Urgent - Oppose NJ Assembly Bill ( A437)

Take Action!

A437 Scheduled for an Assembly Vote on February 5, 2004 - Urge "No" Vote
 
February 3, 2004

Urgent – Immediate Action Needed on Bill A437 scheduled for a vote on Thursday, February 5, 2004

Legislative Bill, A437, has been scheduled for a vote in the Assembly on Thursday, February 5, 2004. In short, this bill paves the way, and shows preferential treatment to, the NJ Biotech Industry so they can perform the ghastly human cloning experiments authorized under the Clone and Kill bill signed into law by Governor McGreevey on January 4, 2004. This bill is a trial balloon, of sorts, and a precursor to future legislative attempts to publicly fund this horrific research with your tax dollars. It should be opposed.

The bill would authorize the creation of a Biotechnology Permit Acceleration Task Force within the Department of Environmental Protection which would be undertaken in consultation with the NJ Commission on Science and Technology and the NJ Commerce and Economic Growth Com mission responsible for the development of rules and regulations designed to shorten the time period for persons involved in biotechnology related activities to obtain permits from the department, for the coordination of the review and approval of permits for biotechnology activities in various divisions with the department and for the development of policies to decrease the application and review costs imposed by the department on persons who apply for permits for biotechnology related activities.

Action needed:
Immediately call and email your two Assembly members. Urge them to oppose A437. You can email your legislators through this page. If you do not know who your two Assembly members are, call the Office of Legislative Services at 1-800-792-8630. Thank you.

39 posted on 02/13/2004 6:54:58 PM PST by Coleus (Vote for Bush and Traditional Marriage; http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4205947/)
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February 8, 2004
 
Dear Pro-Life Friends:
 
On February 5, 2004, the Assembly approved A-437, a bill to fast track and give preferential treatment to the Biotech Industry so they can advance the immoral research authorized under the Clone and Kill bill signed by McGreevey on January 4, 2004.  Please go to our website, www.njrtl.org and click on "Legislative Action Center" to see the vote tally on A-437.  Please note how your two Assembly members voted.  Special thank you's go to the following Assembly members who spoke out on the floor against the bill: 
Assemblyman Joe Pennachio (R-26),
Assemblyman Guy Gregg (R-26),
Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-25),
Assemblywoman Alison McHose (R-24). 
Assemblyman Guy Gregg (R-24) offered an amendment to send the bill back to committee for an amendment, but it was tabled.
 
Marie Tasy
Public & Legislative Director

40 posted on 02/13/2004 6:57:58 PM PST by Coleus (Vote for Bush and Traditional Marriage; http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4205947/)
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