New Right to Life Radio Ads Says Senators Johnson and Daschle
Are Blocking Bill, Backed by President Bush, to Ban Human
Cloning -- To hear the
MP3 file click HERE.
South
Dakota Right to Life, in cooperation with the National Right to Life Committee
(NRLC), today launched the third in a series of radio ads in support of
legislation, soon to be voted on in the U.S. Senate, that would ban the cloning
of human embryos.
The new ad is titled "Does Tim Johnson Favor Harvesting Human Clones?" The 60-second ad begins airing today in five cities across the state, on at least 15 stations. The complete transcript of the ad appears below. To hear the MP3 file click HERE.
The ad criticizes Johnson' s cosponsorship of a new bill, S. 2076, that attorneys at the nonpartisan International Center for Technology Assessment have concluded "is the most permissive piece of human cloning legislation introduced in the Senate."
South Dakota Right to Life and NRLC support the Brownback-Landrieu bill (S. 1899), which would ban the cloning of human embryos. Competing legislation, backed by the biotechnology industry lobby, would permit human embryos to be cloned in order to use them in experiments that will kill them.
In the radio ad, a husband and wife discuss an April 10 speech by President Bush in which the President strongly endorsed the Brownback-Landrieu bill and rejected the argument that "research cloning" should be permitted. The ad notes that the Brownback ban is supported by Congressman John Thune (who voted for it when it passed the House of Representatives on July 31, 2001), and by 95 percent of the South Dakota legislature (which in February passed a resolution endorsing the Brownback bill and condemning so-called " therapeutic cloning" ).
The couple expresses dismay that Senator Tom Daschle is playing a key role in opposing the Brownback bill and in supporting legislation that would " allow biotech firms to clone all the human embryos they want -- if they make sure every embryo dies while they' re still small."
The couple also discusses Senator Tim Johnson' s cosponsorship of "a really weird bill that could allow human clones to be grown for months before being killed to harvest their parts." This refers to a bill, S. 2076, cosponsored by Johnson on April 12. (This controversial bill is sponsored by only two other senators.)
Although S. 2076 is titled a "Human Cloning Prohibition Act," the actual language of S. 2076 allows implanting a cloned human embryo into a uterus unless this is done " for the purpose of creating a cloned human being." [emphasis added] On April 19, Johnson wrote regarding another bill, " I do not, however, believe that the fetus (regardless of term) ought to be considered by the law as a separate human being from the mother." If, as Johnson said, the " fetus" should not be considered a " human being" (" regardless of term" ), then S. 2076 would permit a cloned human embryo to be implanted in a human or animal womb and allowed to develop for months -- even to the final stages of pregnancy -- before being killed to obtain tissues or organs. This has already been done with cloned animals.
On April 29, NRLC wrote to Senator Johnson, explaining that the bill he has cosponsored " would permit cloned human embryos to be implanted in uteruses (human or other), grown to various stages of development (even, for example, to the advanced stage of pregnancy at which partial-birth abortions are performed), and then aborted to provide developed organs, tissues, or cells for research or transplantation." NRLC also said, " Perhaps you did not know that you were placing your name on legislation that would allow humans to be created by cloning, and then allowed to develop for a week, or a month, or six months, before being killed for their parts. . . . If that is the case, we hope that you will make this clear by withdrawing your cosponsorship of S. 2076." However, as of May 9, 2002, Senator Johnson was still officially listed as a cosponsor of S. 2076.
In an independent analysis, attorneys at the nonpartisan International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) wrote that S. 2076 " is the most permissive piece of human cloning legislation introduced in the Senate. . . .the legislation allows an implanted cloned embryo to develop inside a woman's uterus for an unspecified period of time. . . the legislation gives government approval and support to an industry in which human clones gestate for several months in surrogate mothers to be followed by voluntary abortion of such fetuses for use in research."
The ICTA legal analysis, NRLC' s April 29 letter to Senator Johnson, and other pertinent documents are posted at www.nrlc.org/Killing_Embryos/DorganJohnson050802.html. Additional documentation on the statements made in the radio ad are available by inquiry to the NRLC Federal Legislative Office at 202-626-8820 or Legfederal@aol.com.
Does Tim Johnson Favor Harvesting Human
Clones?
60-second radio ad
NARRATOR: A message from South Dakota Right to Life.
MAN: Honey, when I read about what the biotech industry wants to do with human cloning, it makes me sick. They want to clone thousands of human embryos, and then kill them for their parts.
WOMAN: It' s terrible! That' s why President Bush urged the Senate to pass the Brownback bill, to ban the cloning of human embryos. The House already passed it, with Congressman Thune' s support. But Senator Daschle is opposed, so it might not pass.
MAN: Daschle wants human cloning?!
WOMAN: He SAYS not, but really he' d allow biotech firms to clone all the human embryos they want -- if they make sure every embryo dies while they' re still small!
MAN: Clone them just to kill them? That' s awful. What about Tim Johnson?
WOMAN: That Johnson! He recently cosponsored a really weird bill that could allow human clones to be grown for months before being killed to harvest their parts.
MAN: What next! Don' t these guys understand that humans are more than just animals?
NARRATOR: President Bush, Congressman Thune, and 95% of the state legislature support a ban on the cloning of human embryos. Urge Senators Johnson and Daschle to listen and to support the ONLY bill that REALLY bans human cloning -- the Brownback bill.