Replies

NJ recently had an election and the Dims took over the Senate and Assembly, these type of bills will be coming up frequently. The Gov. is trying to boost the pharmaceutical industry and NJ economy by Cloning and Killing humans in the name of research. If it passes in NJ, other states are sure to follow, don't let NJ be the vanguard of Cloning/Killing in America.

Dear Pro-Life Friends:

There is a good possibility, the Clone and Kill Bill could be scheduled for a vote in the Assembly as early as Monday, December 15, 2003. Please barrage the offices of your two Assembly members with phone calls, faxes and emails. The sponsors are trying to claim that this bill has the support of the public majority. Let's prove them wrong! Please act immediately! Please distribute this message to your email, phone and fax networks.

Thank you,

Marie Tasy
Legislative Director, NJRTL

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.

10/24/03 NJRTL Op-ed rebuttal and 10/14/03 Trenton Times editorial advocating passage of S1909/A2840

10/11/03 Trenton Times article

Take Immediate Action

Please continue to call and write your 2 Assembly members at their local district offices immediately. Ask for a written response. Urge both your Assembly members to vote No on this legislation and "No" on any amendments.

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.

Background

On February 10, 2003, A2840/S1909 was pulled from the Assembly Voting Board List due to lack of support for the bill. The bill previously passed the State Senate and was released out of the Assembly Health Committee last February. As stated in the above article, the sponsor and the biotech industry are pressuring assembly members to support the bill and will try to bring it up again in the 03 lame duck session. Please read the following articles for further background on the legislation.

Life Can Win

Grass Roots Campaign Sinks NJ Cloning Bill

Christopher Reeve Republicans

Here Come the Jersey Clones

On February 3, 2003, the Assembly Health Committee released A2840/S1909 out of committee on a party line vote with six Democrats voting for the bill and two Republicans abstaining. The Committee heard 4 hours of testimony from witnesses, an overwhelming majority of whom were opposed to the legislation. Please read the statement of the Minority Members of the Assembly Health Committee below. Continue to contact your two Assembly members and urge them to vote "No" on A2840/S1909.

NJRTL provided copies of a legal opinion addressed to NJRTL from Professor Gerard Bradley, et al. to Committee members as well as a letter written to Governor Jim McGreevey from four members of the President’s Council on Bioethics outlining some grave problems with the legislation. After the committee was made aware that the bill would allow therapeutic cloning, forced abortions, reproductive cloning, and the commercial trafficking in baby body parts, the committee released the bill over the objections of NJRTL who asked that the bill not be released from committee, but rather held for further discussion. Assemblywoman Loretta Weinberg, the Chair of the Committee indicated that the sponsor would review the bill, and, possibly add amendments on the floor when the bill comes up for a vote before the full Assembly. The Senate bill was merged with the Assembly bill, which means they are now identical.

Click here to read this correspondence.

Letter to Governor McGreeevey from Members of the President's Council on Bioethics on A2840/S1909

Legal analysis by Professor Gerard Bradley, et al. on S1909/A2840

The State Senate had previously passed S1909 on December 16, 2002. At a January 12, 2003 press conference and during the January 14, 2003 State of the State Address, Governor McGreevey demanded that the Assembly pass the measure and vowed to sign it. Click here to see how your NJ Senators voted.

12/16/02 NJ Senate Vote on S1909/A2840

Action needed:

Continue to contact your two Assembly members and urge them to vote “NO” on A2840/S1909 and “NO” on any amendments that may be offered.

Click here to read the bill. Bill A2840

Below is the 2/03/03 statement from the Republican Members of the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee on S1909/A2840.

ASSEMBLY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES STATEMENT TO A2840

MINORITY STATEMENT

Submitted by : Assemblyman Samuel D. Thompson, Ph.D.
and Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk

Due to both the volume and content of the extensive testimony heard by the committee today, we cannot support the release of this bill at this time. Further, we believe the majority acted with undue haste in releasing the bill without taking time to give full consideration to the practical and ethical questions raised in the testimony.

The committee received testimony from doctors who specialize in medical research, and all concurred that evidence of the therapeutic benefits of embryonic stem cells is inconclusive. There is no scientific proof that use of these cells will produce the cures and remedies that so many advocates of this bill are promising.

Further, there was unanimous agreement among scientists presenting testimony that the current use of adult stem cells has produced widespread therapeutic results for patients suffering from various debilitating ailments. Therefore, it would be prudent to further enhance and improve the research and study of the medical use of adult stem cells(which produce proven therapeutic benefits) rather than embryonic stem cells which have yet to provide any therapeutic value - yet introduce staggering moral and ethical ramifications.

Testimony presented to the committee raises numerous questions regarding:

the definition of "newborn stages," and the potential this bill creates for the forced abortion of cloned embryos; the definition of "valuable consideration" which permits payment for implantation of cloned embryonic cells; the creation of a climate which replaces the current medical demand for aborted baby parts with cloned baby parts; the potential for medical abuses and exploitation of women and children; and the creation of a new class of human - one designated for the purpose of experimentation.

The committee was asked repeatedly to hold the bill for proper consideration of potentially grave consequences, yet the bill was released from committee with the majority's full endorsement and the promise that the sponsor would address the aforementioned concerns before the bill reaches the Assembly floor. We believe the better course would have been for the committee to heed the calls for more careful consideration of the testimony and the issues raised, and to properly address them forthrightly at the committee level rather than hastily report the bill now with vague promises of future actions.

Sponsors of the bill and Assembly Leadership:

Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen, Democrat
District Office: 985 Stuyvesant Ave., Union,
NJ 07083  (908)-624-0880

Speaker of the NJ Assembly,
Assemblyman Albio  Sires, Democrat
District Office:  303 58th Street, West New York, NJ 07093  201-854-0900
asmcohen@njleg.org; asmsires@njleg.org;

AsmCohen@njleg.org; AsmHackett@njleg.org; AsmMcKeon@njleg.org; AswQuigley@njleg.org;
AswWeinberg@njleg.org ; AsmGuear@njleg.org ; asmsires@njleg.org;

NJ Assembly RollCall Stem Cells, 1st Ld-Writethru

12/15/2003, 8:50 p.m. ET (AP) — The Assembly voted 41-31 with seven abstentions Monday to approve a bill that supports stem cell research. "Y" is yes, "N" is no, "X" is no vote.

Ahearn, Matt, I-Bergen Y
Altamuro, Stephen, R-Gloucester N
Arnone, Michael J., R-Monmouth N
Asselta, Nicholas, R-Cumberland N
Azzolina, Joseph, R-Monmouth X
Barnes, Peter J., D-Middlesex Y
Bateman, Christopher, R-Somerset X
Biondi, Peter, R-Somerset N
Blee, Frank, R-Atlantic N
Bodine, Francis L., R-Burlington N
Bramnick, Jon, R-Union, N
Burzichelli, John J., D-Gloucester Y
Caraballo, Wilfredo, D-Essex Y
Carroll, Michael P., R-Morris N
Chatzidakis, Larry, R-Burlington N
Chivukula, Upendra J., D-Somerset Y
Cohen, Neil M., D-Union Y
Conaway, Herbert, D-Burlington Y
Conners, Jack, D-Camden Y
Connors, Christopher J., R-Ocean N
Conover, Kirk, R-Atlantic N
Corodemus, Steve, R-Monmouth N
Cruz-Perez, Nilsa, D-Camden Y
Cryan, Joseph, D-Union Y
Dancer, Ronald, R-Ocean N
DeCroce, Alex, R-Morris N
Diegnan, Patrick J., D-Middlesex N
DiGaetano, Paul, R-Passaic N
Doherty, Michael J., R-Warren N
Doria, Joseph V., D-Hudson Y
Eagler, Peter C., D-Passaic Y
Edwards, Willis, D-Essex Y
Egan, Joseph V., D-Middlesex Y
Farragher, Clare M., R-Monmouth N
Fisher, Douglas H., D-Cumberland Y
Fraguela, Rafael J., R-Hudson Y
Friscia, Arline M., R-Middlesex X
Green, Jerry, D-Union Y
Greenstein, Linda, D-Middlesex Y
Greenwald, Louis D., D-Camden Y
Gregg, Guy, R-Morris N
Guear, Gary L., D-Mercer Y
Gusciora, W. Reed, D-Mercer Y
Hackett, Mims, D-Essex Y
Heck, Rose M., R-Bergen N
Holzapfel, James W., R-Ocean X
Impreveduto, Anthony, D-Hudson Y
Johnson, Gordon M., D-Bergen Y
Kean, Sean, R-Monmouth N
Malone, Joseph, R-Burlington X
McKeon, John F., D-Essex Y
McHose, Alison, R-Sussex N
Merkt, Richard, R-Morris N
Munoz, Eric, R-Union N
Myers, Connie, R-Hunterdon N
O'Toole, Kevin, R-Essex N
Payne, William, D-Essex Y
Pennacchio, Joseph, R-Morris N
Perez-Cinciarelli, Elba, D-Hudson Y
Pou, Nellie, D-Passaic Y
Previte, Mary, D-Camden X
Quigley, Joan, D-Hudson Y
Roberts, Joseph J., D-Camden Y
Rooney, John E., R-Bergen N
Rumpf, Brian, R-Ocean N
Russo, David C., R-Bergen N
Scalera, Frederick, D-Bergen Y
Sires, Albio, D-Hudson Y
Smith, Robert J., D-Gloucester Y
Stanley, Craig, D-Essex Y
Steele, Rev. Alfred, D-Passaic N
Stender, Linda, D-Union Y
Thompson, Sam, R-Monmouth X
Tucker, Donald, D-Essex Y
Van Drew, Jeff, D-Cape May Y
Vandervalk, Charlotte, R-Bergen X
Watson-Coleman, Bonnie, D-Mercer Y
Weinberg, Loretta, D-Bergen Y
Wisniewski, John S., D-Middlesex Y
Wolfe, David W., R-Ocean N
Note: Assembly 44D, 36R
Overrides: two-thirds or 54 votes.
Amendments: three-fifths or 48 votes.

Late this afternoon, the NJ Assembly passed the NJ Cloning Bill. The bill narrowly passed after much arm twisting with 40 Democrats and one Green Party member voting for the bill. Only Democratic Assemblyman Alfred Steele voted against the bill and one Democratic Assemblywoman Mary Previte abstained.

Below is the roll call vote. All Republicans took a party position, either voting no or abstained. Many Catholic Democrats voted for the bill. They include, but are not limited to Peter Barnes, Joseph Egan, Nilsa Cruz-Perez, Jack Conners, Peter Eagler, Joseph Roberts, Joseph Cryan, Rafael J. Fraguela , Frederick Scalera, Joseph Doria, Joan Quigley, Albio Sires, Nellie Pou, Anthony Impreveduto, John Wisniewski.

Many thanks go out to the following Republican Assembly members who spoke out very eloquently against the bill. Assemblywoman Alison McHose, Michael Doherty, Mike Carroll, Joe Pennachio, Clare Farragher, Joe Malone, Eric Munoz.

Also, please consider sending a thank you to Assemblyman Alfred Steele and Assemblywoman Mary Previte for holding firm to their convictions.

The bill now goes to McGreevey who said he will sign the bill. Call Governor McGreevey at 609 292-6000, Fax at 609 292-3454. Urge him to veto the bill.