Friday, January 19, 2007

Can Nebraskans Stop the Cloning?

Greg Schleppenbach, director of the Bishops' Pastoral Plan for Pro Life Activities for the Nebraska Catholic Conference, sent along this important "action alert" for Nebraska pro-life advocates. Please respond quickly.

On Wednesday, the last day of bill introduction in the Nebraska Legislature, Sen. Mark Christensen (District 44, Imperial) introduced LB 700, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act. This bill prohibits the cloning of human embryos for any reason. It is identical to the bill introduced 2 years ago by Sen. (now Congressman) Adrian Smith.

Sen. Christensen is a freshman senator (replacing Sen. Tom Baker) and has shown great courage in sponsoring this bill which, if past years are any indication, will be strongly opposed by the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Sen. Ernie Chambers (who filibusters any pro-life bill). The bill can be seen here...

...I strongly encourage each of you to send two quick, but very important e-mails:

1) Please e-mail Sen. Christensen to thank him for introducing LB 700 and to ensure him of your prayers for the success of this bill. Sen. Christensen’s e-mail is mchristensen@leg.ne.gov

2) If your senator is already a cosponsor (one of those listed here), please e-mail him/her with thanks for cosponsoring the bill. Click here to get your senator’s contact information. Christensen (District 44); Burling (District 33); Carlson (District 38); Dierks (District 40); Dubas (District 34); Engel (District 17); Erdman (District 47); Flood (District 19); Friend (District 10); Fulton (District 29); Hansen (District 42); Harms (District 48); Heidemann (District 1); Hudkins (District 21); Langemeier (District 23); Lathrop (District 12); Nelson (District 6); Pedersen (District 39); Pirsch (District 4); Preister (District 5); Wallman (District 30) and Wightman (District 36).

Of course, if your senator has not yet co-sponsored the bill, e-mail him/her and encourage him/her to cosponsor the bill. Click here to get your senator’s contact information. Your message can say simply, “As your constituent, I urge you to co-sponsor LB 700, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act. This bill would prohibit the cloning of human embryos and would establish a clear ethical line that says it is wrong to manufacture human life solely for use in medical research.”