A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

[Rayilyn Brown <RayilynLee@xxxxxxx>]

Dear supporters of Feinstein Bill 2439:

This will be my second column in The Californian.probably this weekend. I was 
restricted to 600 words. If anyone wants to see the longer one let me know.  
Also, feel free to use all or in part, or change a few words, add to it  to 
spread the word.  I'm in Murritea, California.

 A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY
âWe must not create life to destroy itâ, insisted President Bush in his 
ill-advised call for a ban on therapeutic cloning. Last summer the House also 
prematurely jettisoned therapeutic along with reproductive cloning in an 
unprecedented display of ignorance about the difference between the two.

For the first time in human history cures for diseases that shorten and 
devastate the lives of millions of people and their families may be within 
the grasp of medical researchers. This giant step for mankind may not be 
taken if the Senate passes the Brownback bill instead of the Feinstein bill, 
which prohibits only reproductive cloning. The Brownback bill not only bans 
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer(SCNT) therapeutic cloning, but even worse, 
imposes Draconian criminal penalties of $100,000.00 and ten years in prison 
for researchers and patients who go abroad for treatment. Â

Therapeutic cloning involves using an unfertilized egg and a patientâs own 
DNA to cure his disease. So, just whose life is being taken when SCNT is 
used, the âeggshellâ or the personâs own delayed twin? ÂThere would be 
no 
twin as both bills ban reproductive cloning. ÂWouldnât this procedure in 
fact 
âcreate lifeâ by making it worth living or allowing a pain-free normal life 
span for people of all ages?

When âlifeâ with civil rights begins is a question of where to draw the 
line. ÂHowever, opponents of SCNT seem to want to push it back to the âglint 
in your fatherâs eyeâ, or a romantic candlelight dinner. ÂA baby girl is 
born with approximately 150,000 eggs. Does anyone really expect 150,000 live 
births from one female? ÂEggs are lost every month. ÂIs anyone going to 
retrieve them? ÂAnd what about those poor little guys, those billions of 
sperm? ÂSadly, there is not an egg for every sperm.

Therapeutic cloning does not use fetuses or babies, but germ and somatic 
cells. For over 20 years the cloning of cells and genes have been used to 
produce medicines, diagnostics and vaccines to treat a whole host of 
maladies, track the origin of biological weapons, catch criminals, free 
innocent people, and produce new plants and livestock. Furthermore, there is 
a long history of voluntarily imposed constraints and ethical moratoria on 
biotechnology research by physicians and scientists themselves.

So why do opponents of SCNT fear rampaging clones? ÂUnfounded concerns have 
been expressed in the past about new medical therapies, now routine, which 
are not forced on anyone. ÂFor example, Jehovahâs Witnesses do not use blood 
transfusions. People who oppose organ transplants donât donate theirs to give 
life to others. ÂThose who originally objected to in vitro fertilization as 
âplaying Godâ may now applaud the birth of litters without regard for the 
extra embryos that are routinely destroyed in the process. ÂOpponents of SCNT 
have a right to their beliefs and a moral commitment to non-existent 
entities, but not the right to deny life-saving medical therapies to those 
who do not share them.

The challenges of the 21st century are different from those faced by our 
ancestors sitting in cold caves eating raw meat thousands of years ago. 
ÂSince science has so far outdistanced religion and politics in the last 
century, it is difficult for all of us to make a rational and humane decision 
in this matter. ÂNevertheless, we are all morally obligated to try to 
understand the science of SCNT before we reject it. It has taken us a long 
time to come this far and it would be a terrible shame and great crime 
against humanity if the descendants of the flat earth thinkers succeed in 
stalling human progress and hope. ÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂÂ

Rayilyn Brown
Rayilynlee@xxxxxxx
40697 Corte Albara
Murrieta, CA Â92562-5513
909-696-0908

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