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Christian Coalition of America Statement
December 12, 2001
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Christian Coalition of America's President,
Roberta Combs, personally delivered to Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, the lead
Senate sponsor of a human cloning ban, the first signatures to a petition urging
the U.S. Congress to ban "the creation of human embryos by cloning." Ms. Combs
delivered the signatures of more than 200,000 grassroots citizens. "These
200,000 signatures are just the beginning," said Ms. Combs.
In a letter that accompanied the petition signatures, Ms. Combs wrote to Senator
Brownback, "It is not an understatement to say that for every one of the over
200,000 signatures to this petition, there are untold number of other grassroots
citizens who would equally urge you to do the same if they had been given the
opportunity to sign the petition." She commended Senator Brownback for his
leadership on behalf of enacting a human cloning ban and urged him to press
forward in his efforts. "The success of your efforts is not only a matter of
grave importance to these petitioners, but your success literally may affect
humanity as a whole," Ms. Combs told the Senator.
The United States House of Representatives passed a total ban on human cloning
in July by an overwhelming vote of 265 votes, with 63 Democratic Members voting
for it. The Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 prevents any person or entity
from performing or participating in, or attempting to perform human cloning. The
House of Representatives had to first defeat a substitute amendment by Rep. Jim
Greenwood of Pennsylvania. The Greenwood amendment allowed for the cloning of
human embryos so long as they are not implanted in a woman's womb where they
could grow into a full human being -- this is a clone-and-kill approach. The
Greenwood approach would allow for the mass production of cloned human embryos
for manipulation and experimentation for however long the current or future
state-of-the-art science can sustain the cloned embryo.
A June 2001 poll conducted by International Communications Research found that
86% of Americans oppose the cloning of human life for purposes of performing
destructive research. |
