PRESS RELEASE

"Lincoln Sees Pluses of Cloning Embryos" - Arkansas and National Right to Life Sponsor New Radio Ad Criticizing Lincoln and Praising Hutchinson for Statements on Cloning

WASHINGTON - A new radio ad, sponsored by Arkansas Right to Life and the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), criticizes Senator Blanche Lincoln (D) for a recent interview in which she signaled that she is leaning towards voting to allow cloning of human embryos.

Right to Life is urging Lincoln to change her mind and vote instead for the Brownback-Landrieu bill (S. 1899), which would ban the cloning of human embryos. The bill is strongly supported by President Bush, and has already passed the House of Representatives.

Lincoln's remarks were reported in a page 1 article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on May 2, 2002, headlined "Lincoln Sees Pluses of Cloning Embryos."

The ad praises Senator Tim Hutchinson (R), who was quoted in the same article in support of the Brownback-Landrieu bill.

In the 60-second radio ad, a man and woman discuss the remarks of the two senators, and also refer to an April 10 speech in which President Bush urged the Senate to quickly pass the ban -- warning that human "embryo farms" will develop unless the bill is enacted. [The President's speech is posted at www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/04/print/20020410-4.html ]

The ad began running today on seven stations across the state.

The Senate will choose between the Brownback-Landrieu bill and competing legislation sponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), and others, which is backed by the biotech industry. The biotech-backed legislation would permit corporations to clone unlimited numbers of human embryos. All such cloned human embryos would be used in various experiments that would kill them (including dissecting them to obtain their stem cells and using them as "medical models" for various tests).

A complete transcript of the new ad appears below. An mp3 audio file of the ad will be posted on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org. That website also includes additional information on the Brownback-Landrieu bill and the competing "clone and kill" legislation. For additional specific documentation on any of the statements made in the ad, contact the NRLC Federal Legislative Office at (202) 626-8820 or at Legfederal@aol.com.