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By MARIE TASY
The Times' story covering a panel discussion on stem-cell research and its subsequent editorial advocating passage of S-1909/A-2840 had a number of important omissions and inaccuracies. Curiously, absent from The Times' coverage was any mention of three women, including me, who participated in the panel discussion, which leads one to wonder whether the editors of The Times, for all their championing of women's rights, actually believes that women's voices should be heard in this debate (``Stem cell research debated,'' Oct. 11). It's also sad that The Times could not present its view without resorting to name-calling.
The Times failed to mention important issues covered during the panel discussion, which include, but are not limited to, the uncontested fact that human embryonic stem cells have never been used successfully in clinical trials in humans and carry significant risks, including immune rejection and tumor formation.
Also omitted was the fact that there are myriad studies documenting cases where adult stem cells using umbilical cord blood, placenta, amniotic fluid, neural, muscle, fat and skin cells have shown great advances in curing diseases and illnesses that include Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. A study published in the Jan. 23, 2002, New Scientist reports on research conducted at the University of Minnesota showing that stem cells taken from adult bone marrow have the ability to proliferate extensively in culture and form virtually any tissue in the body _ properties once claimed exclusively for embryonic stem cells.
Another important point raised during the panel discussion, but not covered, was the concern that cloning techniques will lead to a new exploitation of women, subjecting them to undergo invasive procedures and use superovulatory drugs that increase their risk of developing cancer, as well as early osteoporosis. Even the scientists involved in the research are admitting that it would take ``thousands of human eggs on an assembly line'' to produce custom therapy for a single person. Thomas Okarma, chief executive of Geron Corp, a cell therapy company, said of therapeutic cloning, the odds favoring success ``are vanishingly small'' (``Clone Profit? Unlikely,'' May 10, 2002). The New York Times echoed that sentiment saying that research using embryonic stem cells and therapeutic cloning using artificially manufactured cloned human embryos is not even close to being perfected, let alone yielding cures (``The Promise of Therapeutic Cloning,'' Jan. 5).
The Times' editorial (``Time to pass the stem-cell bill,'' Oct. 14), erroneously stated that a N.J. bill (A-2840/S-1909) authorizing embryonic stem- cell research is identical to a California bill passed last year. The California bill has a 14-day limit on maintaining embryos for research. The N.J. bill has no such limit. In fact, the N.J. bill explicitly authorizes the artificial creation of human embryos through cloning (somatic cell nuclear transplantation) and experimentation up until birth. That is because cloning is defined in the proposed legislation very broadly _ the prohibited conduct is drawn at the ``newborn stages.'' In addition, while the bill makes it illegal to buy or sell embryonic or fetal tissue for profit, it allows ``reasonable payment'' for embryonic or cadaveric fetal tissue production, implantation, transplantation and preservation costs. This would authorize a commercial market in the sale of baby parts. To say the bill is extreme is an understatement.
Moreover, The Times wrongly assumed we declined to ``consistently'' answer what it calls one ``key question'' regarding the ``logic and human dignity in routine discarding of embryos created in fertility clinics.'' This question was addressed in a conversation I had with The Times' reporter after the panel discussion. Apparently, either she or the editors of The Times, decided not to print my response. One proposed solution to this dilemma is to enact regulations that would restrict the number of fertilized eggs manufactured in fertility clinics. A life-affirming alternative to the discarding of leftover embryos is already being employed by an entity known as Snowflake Adoption, which allows couples to adopt frozen embryos from fertility clinics and have them implanted and grown to term. Surely, this is an ethical alternative to Wise Young's ``trash it or use it'' philosophy.
The Times states that human embryos are not the equivalent of ``real, here- and-now human beings,'' but ``microscopic clusters of insenate cells.'' The truth of the matter is that we are all made up of microscopic clusters of cells. We were all once embryos at one stage in our lives, just as we once were or will become infants, toddlers, adolescents, adults and senior citizens. Nevertheless, we are all members of the human family. It is an undisputed fact that stem-cell research performed on human embryos results in the death of the human embryo. That a human embryo is a human being can be found in any standard textbook on embryology or standard medical dictionary. The crux of the issue is whether a human embryo, who by virtue of his/her humanity, has the right not to be killed or harmed in any way.
If the N.J. bill moves forward, it will set New Jersey on an irresponsible, unprecedented and morally disastrous course fraught with devastating consequences for humanity. Adult stem cells that are already curing people and do not have any of the ethical or practical problems associated with their use are the future of life science and humanity's hope for the future. That is where we should place our collective focus and resources.
NOTE: Marie Tasy is public and legislative affairs director, New Jersey Right to Life.
By EDITORIAL
For seven months, a bill that would authorize and facilitate embryonic stem- cell research in New Jersey has awaited action in the state Assembly, blocked by a campaign of disinformation waged by the extreme pro-life lobby. Now, Assembly Democratic leaders say they plan to call the bill for a vote after the Nov. 4 election. To say it's about time would be an understatement.
Cellular biologists believe that stem cells, which can turn into various body tissues, could be the key to treatments for diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and diabetes, as well as neurological injuries. The stem cells would come from embryos slated to be discarded by fertility clinics, or could be developed from the patient's own tissue to ensure compatibility. Because New Jersey is home to a large and effective medical research establishment, enactment of the measure in this state would be particularly helpful.
But pro-lifers oppose such research, out of the belief that the microscopic clusters of insenate cells used in the research are the moral equal of real, here-and-now human beings and should not be used to alleviate those individuals' suffering. The opponents saw their opening last March when The Washington Post's arch-conservative commentator, Robert Novak, wrote a column asserting that New Jersey was ``moving at breakneck speed'' toward the legalization of human cloning via the stem-cell bill, which the Senate previously had passed, and singling out for special scorn the Republicans who supported it. The claim was entirely false, in that the measure specifically and for the first time would make cloning ``a crime of the first degree.'' Nevertheless, the column led to what The Star-Ledger called ``a blizzard of e- mail messages'' to the Legislature, many of them from people and groups that opposed the research in the first place. Many members of the Assembly suffered an attack of cold feet, and suddenly the bill was nine votes short of a majority. Its sponsor, Assemblyman Neil Cohen, D-New Roselle, withdrew it to conduct what he called an ``educational campaign'' among his colleagues to try to undo some of the damage wrought by Mr. Novak's column and those who exploited it.
Assemblyman Cohen's bill and its Senate counterpart, sponsored by Senate co- president, Richard J. Codey, D-West Orange, would allow researchers to work with newly cultivated stem-cell lines taken from unused embryos at New Jersey fertility clinics. Like a California law on which it is modeled, it would require the owners of the cells to give their written permission, and would allow no monetary compensation.
In a panel discussion on stem-cell research co-sponsored by The Times and held at Mercer County Community College last week, Dr. Wise Young of Rutgers, an expert on the subject, asserted that stem-cell biology is ``the future of life sciences'' and that preventing research ``has held back science.'' He posed a key question, one that the opponents of the pending legislation have consistently declined to address: Where is the logic and the human dignity in the routine discarding of embryos that are created for in vitro fertilization but not needed? ``I think it is more dignified to use them to save lives,'' Dr. Young said.
The Cohen-Codey bill would allow and encourage that outcome. The Assembly should approve it and send it to Gov. James E. McGreevey for his promised signature.
| State Bill - Renewed Push for A2840/S1909 NJ Clone Kill Bill | Take Action! |
| Immediate Action Needed!! | |
| Assembly sponsorNeil M. Cohen is trying to get S1909/A2840 through the Assembly in lame duck session. The vote on this bill can be scheduled anytime in the Assembly between the period December 15, 2003 and January 13, 2004. Please take immediate action after reading the items below. PLEASE NOTE: THE FEDERAL BILL SUPPORTED BY SENATOR ORRIN HATCH AND FORMER FIRST LADY NANCY REAGAN IS NOT IDENTICAL TO THE NJ BILL! IN FACT, THE NJ BILL GOES WAY BEYOND THE MEASURE SUPPORTED BY SENATOR ORRIN HATCH. If you do not know the names and phone numbers of your legislators, you can call the Office of Legislative Services at 1-800-792-8630 or you can go the top of this page and click on "Take Action!" then "home" then "NJ Legislature", enter your zip code in the specified location to obtain the names, addresses and phone numbers of your state legislators. You can email your legislators directly from this page by going to the box that says "Take Action Now" and then fill in your required zip code. For your friends without Computers they can thistoll-free number: 800-792-8630 to get their legislator information if they don't know it. Click here to read this correspondence. Submitted by : Assemblyman Samuel D. Thompson, Ph.D.
Testimony presented to the committee raises numerous questions regarding:
Sponsors of the bill and Assembly Leadership: Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen, Democrat AsmCohen@njleg.org; AsmHackett@njleg.org; AsmMcKeon@njleg.org; AswQuigley@njleg.org; |
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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.
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Jersey would become first state to finance research
Sunday, February 22, 2004
BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG AND KASI ADDISON
Star-Ledger Staff
In a bid to make New Jersey a center for medical breakthroughs, Gov. James E. McGreevey will propose spending $6.5 million for the creation of a stem-cell research institute when he unveils his budget Tuesday.
If the proposal survives legislative review, it will make New Jersey the first state to use taxpayer money for a line of research that is both highly promising and intensely controversial.
The New Brunswick-based institute, to be managed jointly by Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, would be financed at the outset with a $6.5 million state grant and $3.5 million in private money, a McGreevey administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said yesterday.
The plan is projected to cost $ 50 million in both public and private funds over five years, with half of that money earmarked for construction costs. The remainder would pay for research and the recruitment of top scientists.
"This will demonstrate that New Jersey is open and welcome for both researchers and companies to work in groundbreaking medical treatment," the administration official said.
Earlier this year, McGreevey signed legislation making New Jersey the second state, after California, to officially encourage embryonic stem-cell research. But the measure came under sharp debate, passing the Assembly by a single vote.
Moreover, it was directly at odds with the position taken by many other states and by the Bush administration, which has severely restricted federal funding for such research.
Yet the potential of stem-cell research is so great, advocates say, that it should not be suppressed.
"The idea that we can replace dead, dying and deranged cells means we are on the threshold of a whole new approach to regenerative and rehabilitative medicine, and it affects a multitude of diseases," said Ira Black, the co-author of the proposal to create the institute.
Black, director of the stem-cell research center UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, said the New Jersey research center would represent "a dawning of a new day in medicine."
The research, which involves the removal of stem cells from human embryos, holds the key to developing cures for Parkinson's disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, spinal cord injuries and a host of other maladies, Black and other researchers say.
But because the research can involve destroying a human embryo -- and in some cases, a cloned human embryo -- it has been denounced as unethical by the state's Catholic bishops and by anti-abortion groups.
President Bush's regulation limits federal funding to research on only those stem cells that already had been extracted from embryos before the measure was enacted in August 2001. The regulation still permits federal funding of adult stem-cell research.
Opponents of the governor's plan, first reported in the New York Times, point to a recent announcement by South Korean researchers that they have successfully created a cloned human embryo before destroying it and harvesting its stem cells.
Marie Tasy, director for New Jersey Right to Life, vowed to "work very hard to get the funding for embryonic stem-cell research removed from the state budget."
"Most people find it morally objectionable to have their tax dollars used to create human life for the sole purpose of destruction," Tasy said. "I would hope the people in New Jersey would oppose this."
Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union), who led the fight for the stem-cell research bill in the lower house, yesterday hailed McGreevey's commitment of state funding as "visionary."
"It will send a message around the world that New Jersey is committed to stem-cell research," Cohen said.
He dismissed claims that the bill would allow researchers to clone a human embryo, implant it into a woman, and abort it to harvest its organs shortly before birth, saying anyone who implanted a cloned embryo would face criminal prosecution.
The New Jersey stem-cell research law officially encourages the same technique the Korean researchers used, which is sometimes called "therapeutic cloning." However, it makes it a crime to create a human baby using cloning. In between the creation of a cloned embryo and the birth of a living human clone, the law leaves a huge gray area.
Sensitive to the controversy likely to be ignited by the governor's proposal, researchers affiliated with the project stressed yesterday they have no interest in cloning people.
"We want to make it crystal clear that no one wants to create new human beings," Black said.
The aim, insisted Kenneth Breslauer, dean of Rutgers' Life Sciences Department and a colleague of Black on the project, is simply to better treat ailments that kill or maim millions of people.
"We are talking about basic research for a serious biomedical advantage," Breslauer said. "We are talking about curing diseases."
Black said that if people had a greater understanding of the research's potential, support for it would be far more widespread.
And he cautioned that failure to pursue stem-cell research could drive breakthroughs -- and some of the best scientists -- to other countries.
"If the U.S. doesn't assume this role, the scientific advancements will go elsewhere, and so will the talent," Black said. "Doing nothing is devastating to this country's interests."Staff writers Mark Mueller and Joe Donohue contributed to this report.
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| Immediate Action Needed - Call Your NJ Senators on A-437, Bioetech Permit Acceleration Process | |||||||||
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A bank roll for stem-cell research
$3B endowment is envisioned to fund newest front on war on disease
Saturday, March 13, 2004BY ROBERT SCHWANEBERG
Star-Ledger Staff
A state lawmaker announced plans yesterday for a nonprofit foundation with an ambitious goal: raising $3 billion to make New Jersey the epicenter of stem-cell research in the United States, in hopes of speeding the development of cures for various diseases.
Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union), who announced the plans yesterday in a conference call with reporters, said he has already gotten "a tremendous response" from financial institutions, universities, medical researchers and the state's pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. They will discuss it further at a "stem-cell summit" to be held this spring, he said.
Last December, Cohen won a hard-fought battle in the Assembly for passage of a law making New Jersey the second state, after California, to officially encourage stem-cell research, including experiments using stem cells harvested from embryos.
The Catholic Church and New Jersey Right to Life have denounced embryonic stem-cell research on the grounds that it destroys a human life. President Bush has sharply limited embryonic stem-cell research using federal funds.
Cohen said the new law paved the way for New Jersey to become a leader in stem-cell research, and what is needed now is a way to pool money and brainpower. He said the stem-cell research endowment fund would do both.
Gary Friedman, a transplant surgeon assisting Cohen in the endeavor, said, "It's almost like the Manhattan Project," referring to the collaborative research effort that developed the atomic bomb for the United States.
"You want to put together the most resources with the best research minds," said Friedman, who also heads the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Morristown Memorial Hospital.
Told later of Cohen's proposal, Ira Black, director of the stem-cell research center at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, called it "inspired."
"Stem-cell research has the potential to change the face of medicine in the 21st century," Black said. "It is not simply a new treatment for one or even a group of diseases. It is an entirely new approach to medicine and illness. We hope it will be possible to replace dying and dysfunctional cells in a variety of diseases." He said they could include Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, spinal-cord injuries "and one could go on."
Friedman added that stem-cell research has been "exploding" since 1998, but an enormous collaborative effort will be needed to convert that research into cures.
Marie Tasy, director of public and legislative affairs for New Jersey Right to Life, said research using "adult" stem cells from umbilical cord blood, bone marrow and numerous other sources is both promising and ethically sound. But she said embryonic stem cell research is immoral because it either destroys a human embryo or creates one -- in some cases through cloning -- for the purpose of harvesting its stem cells.
"That is a path we should not go down," Tasy said, adding that embryonic stem-cell research is unproven and raises "false hope" in patients and their families.
Cohen said the endowment fund has yet to raise any money and would need about $250 million to get started. But the ultimate goal, he said, is to meet or exceed the $3 billion that Californians have proposed raising for stem-cell research in that state through a bond issue. In Massachusetts, Harvard University has announced plans for a multimillion-dollar stem-cell research center to be established with private funding.
Gov. James E. McGreevey has proposed spending $6.5 million of state money for a stem-cell research institute to be jointly managed by Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Cohen said he hopes to raise far more for the stem-cell research endowment fund from financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and private foundations. By taking only private funds, he said, the endowment would remain free to fund all types of stem-cell research, including the controversial embryonic variety.
MAJORITY OF NJ RESIDENTS OPPOSE GOVERNOR’S PROPOSAL TO USE TAXPAYER MONEY TO FUND STEM CELL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
FUNDING SHOULD BE STRIPPED FROM BUDGET
March 18, 2004--
A recent Quinnipiac University Poll conducted between February 29 and March 7, 2004 found that a majority of New Jersey voters disagree with Governor James McGreevey's $50 million proposal to fund a New Jersey institute for human stem cell research.
Quinnipiac surveyed 1,210 New Jersey registered voters, and found that 48 percent of those surveyed disagreed with the Governor's plan, while only 42 percent agreed with the idea.
Governor McGreevey proposed spending $6.5 million of state money for a stem-cell research institute in the FY 2004 budget, which would be a collaborative effort run by Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Marie Tasy, director of public and legislative affairs for New Jersey Right to Life, said this result shows McGreevey is on the wrong track. “The people of NJ clearly want us to focus our efforts and resources on research using ‘adult’ stem cells from umbilical cord blood, bone marrow and other sources which has proven to be successful and is ethically sound.” The Governor’s proposal, however, includes taxpayer money to perform embryonic stem cell research which relies on the destruction of existing human embryos as well as the creation of new human beings through the embryo, fetal and newborn stages.
Tasy said the embryonic stem cell research can open up "a new exploitation of women," noting that South Korean scientists super-ovulated 16 women to obtain 242 eggs, which resulted in only one stem cell line.
Somatic nuclear transplantation (SCNT) is expressly authorized under the law McGreevey signed in early January. SCNT is the technique used to create human embryos as well as create human clones and is the same method used to clone Dolly the sheep.
Tasy pointed out that Dolly was the result after 300 failed attempts, resulting in miscarriages and malformed offspring. Ultimately, the "successful" result, Dolly, aged too rapidly and had to be euthanized.
"While this may or may not be acceptable for animals, it certainly should not be acceptable for human children, said Tasy. "There is no reason to exploit women and create human life to destroy it when adult and cord blood stem cells are accessible and are being successfully used to treat human patients."
The law McGreevey signed in January is the most radical ever. Under the law’s language, human cloning for experimentation, as well as the allowance of "reasonable payment'' for embryonic or cadaveric fetal tissue production, implantation, transplantation and preservation costs, is now legal up until newborn stages.
"Sponsors of the bill, the Biotech Industry and the Governor, engaged in a highly deceptive misinformation campaign claiming that the research on human embryos would be limited to those already existing from left over fertility treatments and boldly denied they would attempt to publicly fund it," said Tasy. “They have deliberately misled the taxpayers of NJ and the evidence shows increasing opposition to this misguided proposal and the heavy-handed tactics employed by Governor McGreevey and his agents.” Tasy called for the funding to be stripped from the state budget. “Taxpayers should not be forced to pay for this highly objectionable research that authorizes the creation and destruction of human life through the newborn stages.”
| McGreevey Signs Agreement to Fund Stem Cell Institute Before Legislature Approves Expenditure | ||
| May 13, 2004 Dear Pro-Life Friends: Yesterday, Governor McGreevey hosted a stem cell forum to sign an agreement to fund a Stem Cell Institute to be jointly run by UMDNJ and Rutgers University. A Demonstration was held outside the forum to protest the use of tax money for clone and kill "research." Despite protestations to the contrary, the NJ law McGreevey signed DOES indeed authorize human cloning and fetal farming through the newborn stage. Please click on the links provided below to read our Press Release and the article by Peggy Noonan which appeared in today's Wall Street Journal. Please continue to contact your State Senator and two Assembly Members who represent you in Trenton and tell them you don't want your tax dollars used for this purpose. The Legislature has not yet voted on the state budget. This vote usually occurs on the last legislative session day, which the current legislative calendar indicates will be Thursday, June 24. If you don't know who your state legislators are, you can go to NJRTL's Legislative Action Center on our website or call the Office of Legislative Services at 1-800-792-8630. Please check our website to read what experts have to say about the NJ cloning law (A2840/S1909) and for the latest legislative updates and pro-life news. NJRTL website: http://www.njrtl.org/ Marie Tasy , Public & Legislative Affairs Director, New Jersey Right to Life, NJRTL Press Release: http://www.politicsnj.com/njrtl051304.htmArticle by Peggy Noonan: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110005069 |
| Time To Act Now on Budget: No Funding for Clone and Kill Research | |||||||||
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