WASHINGTON (March 7, 2002) -- One of the most important pro-life debates ever will occur in the U.S. Senate in April. The Senate will debate whether to approve legislation to ban the cloning of human embryos.

For a detailed report on recent developments, see  "Historic Senate Debate on Cloned Human Embryos Delayed Until April, As Lobbying Battle Heats Up."

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 http://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.

*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, such as those sponsored by Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) (S. 1893) and Dianne 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.

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.

E-MAIL addresses for each senator are available from the Senate website at http://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.

FAXES can be sent to Senate offices that publish a fax number (see http://www.senate.gov/).

REGULAR MAIL can be sent to Senator ___________, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510 – BUT REGULAR MAIL IS CURRENTLY BEING DELAYED BY SECURITY MEASURES AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED ON.

PUBLIC EVENTS: Senators often visit their home states to participate in public events. Most senators will be in their home states for at least part of the congressional spring recess, which runs from March 22 until April 9. Pro-life citizens should take advantage of any opportunities to speak directly with senators about this urgent issue.

Further information on the human cloning issue is available on the NRLC website at http://www.nrlc.org/ under "Federal Legislation: Killing Human Embryos (http://www.nrlc.org/Old/oldIndex.html).

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/factsheets.htm.

In addition, "Americans to Ban Cloning," a recently formed coalition of anti-cloning groups, has launched a website that contains much useful information: http://www.cloninginformation.org/.

Do not assume that pro-abortion senators are necessarily opposed to the Brownback legislation. As discussed elsewhere in this issue, 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 self-described "pro-choice" 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.

As of March 7, 2002, the following 26 U.S. Senators had sponsored the genuine ban on human cloning (S. 1899), sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (R-Ks.), S. 1899: Shelby (R-Al.), Sessions (R-Al.), Murkowski (Ak.), Hutchinson (R-Ar.), Kyl (R-Az.), Allard (R-Co.), Grassley (R-Iowa), Bunning (R-Ky.), Craig (R-Id.), Fitzgerald (R-Il.), Landrieu (D-La.), Lott (R-Ms.), Bond (R-Mo.), Burns (R-Mt.), Hagel (R-Ne.), Ensign (R-Nv.), Gregg (R-NH), Robert Smith (R-NH), Helms (R-NC), DeWine (R-Ohio), Voinovich (R-Ohio), Nickles (R-Ok.), Inhofe (R-Ok.), Santorum (R-Pa.), and Bennett (R-Utah).

Four senators have sponsored the competing "clone and kill" bill (S. 1893), introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). 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. Harkin’s cosponsors are Boxer (D-Ca.), Reid (D-Nv.), and Specter (R-Pa.).

In addition, eight senators have sponsored the similar "clone and kill" bill (S. 1758) introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.). The sponsors are, in addition to Feinstein: Boxer (D-Ca.), Miller (D-Ga.), Durbin (D-Il.), Mikulski (D-Md.), Kennedy (D-Mass.), 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," at http://thomas.loc.gov/.