What in the World is Wisconsin Doing?

ACTION ALERT: Wisconsin Stem Cell Now

1) To find out who your legislators are go to:
http://165.189.139.210/WAML/

You can call your legislator through the legislative hotline and leave a
message. If you live in the Madison area call 608-266-9960, otherwise
call toll-free at 1-800-362-9472.

2) Please join WI Stem Cell Now, Inc. @ http://www.wistemcellnow.org/ -
no cost!!!
Check out the site, particuarly if you have questions about stem cell
research. Little A, Beep, Joe, and PO - JOIN THIS GROUP TODAY!!!!!!

3) Please pass on this email to anyone you feel has a stake in stem
cell research.

4) Joe, Beep, little A, and Po - Here is the number for us! Call using
the 1-800 number:
Since this is the House, Barbara Toles is our representative:

Senate District 6
Spencer Coggs
6th Senate District
(608) 266-2500 or
(877) 474-2000
Milwuakee District Telephone
(414) 442-0739
sen.coggs@legis.state.wi.us

Assembly District 17
Representative Barbara Toles
(608) 266-5580
(414) 444-3810
rep.toles@legis.state.wi.us


5) Jamie - If you have any relatives still in Wisconsin that are stem
cell research supporters, please pass this email on.

6) Little A - Please call gma and ask her to call her representative.
Her info is: (poor gma - a republican!)

Senate:
Cathy Stepp
1-866-615-7510

House:
John Lehman
(262) 632-3330


Hello everyone:

Late last week, substantially identical legislation was introduced in
both the Wisconsin Senate (SB 243) and Assembly (AB 499). The goal of
these bills is to ban all "human cloning" in Wisconsin and to provide
for criminal penalties for any violation. This legislation is on a
fast track, and the sponsors clearly want to rush this through before
the general public is aware of what is going on.

We need all of you to act quickly. Please call your elected
representatives in both the Senate and the Assembly and urge them to
OPPOSE what is, in reality, a stealth attempt to limit embryonic stem
cell research in our state and tie the hands of researchers. The
message is simple:

1. The bills do not differentiate between "reproductive cloning"
(creating a new human baby) from "therapeutic cloning" (copying genetic
material into new embryos as a means of studying the development of
genetic disorders). No responsible scientist or researcher in the
United States has called for the former. However, the latter practice
is on the cutting edge of the search for cures using stem cells. The
only thing that these two prodecures share is, unfortunately, the
name "cloning." The drafters of this legislation purposefully fail to
differentiate between the two procedures in order to place restrictions
on the ability of researchers to pursue therapeutic cloning.

2. While there is currently no research underway in Wisconsin using
therapeutic cloning, this is no reason to ban the procedure. This
procedure is the best way to track the way in which diseases like
diabetes and Parkinsons develop, and therefore to learn how to prevent
the diseases in the first place. We should not close doors to
researchers before they even know where those doors might lead. We
should also not create a business environment where companies are
threatened with criminal prosecution for engaging in medical research.

3. There is nothing unethical about embryonic stem cell research.
Unlike abortion, which involves questions concerning the appropriate
circumstances for removing a viable fetus from a womb, embryonic stem
cell research does not involve the removal of anything from a womb. A
fertilized egg utilized for research within the first few days of
fertilization is no different from a fertilized egg that fails to
implant in the womb and is discharged from the body (whether due to
natural causes or artificial birth control) or a fertilized egg created
and frozen for later use in an in vitro fertilization clinic. Even
staunch abortion opponents such as Senator Orrin Hatch and Nancy Reagan
recognize that the embryos created during the process of stem cell
research can never grow or develop into a viable fetus unless they were
first successfully implanted into a human womb. There is
nothing "unethical" about birth control or in vitro fertilization, and
there is nothing "unethical" about using embryonic stem cells to cure
human suffering.

Call today. Identify yourself as a supporter of Wisconsin Stem Cell
Now, Inc. It doesn't take much time. The legislature is only hearing
one voice on this issue. We need to make sure that they hear the voices
who support this vital research.

Thanks,

Ed Fallone, President
WI Stem Cell Now, Inc.
info@wistemcellnow.org