|
PLEASE NOTE: THE DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC
COMMENTS
SUBMISSION HAS ENDED.
All letters received will be entered into the
Federal Register and open for public
review in the coming weeks.
See related
story
(Original Action Alert Issued May 1, 2009)
URGENT - URGENT - URGENT!
ACTION ALERT: Stem Cell Funding open for Public
Comment
Written comments must be received by NIH on or before May 26, 2009
The National Institutes of Health has requested public comments for its Draft
Guidelines on Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Comments may be registered
either by US Mail or on-line using the following link:
http://nihoerextra.nih.gov/stem_cells/add.htm
While the on-line form allows you to
attach a document, it must be in .txt format, thus we recommend you compose your
thoughts off line and then copy and paste them into the comments section.
Since the on-line form will ask you
to "reference specific sections in the document, when applicable", in order to assist you, we have
pulled together some helpful talking points from the NIH guidelines and
suggested responses we included in our own letter. (See link below)
TALKING
POINTS!
The NIH states their intention is to
create guidelines that are
"ethically responsible, scientifically worthy, and conducted in accordance with
applicable law". Following are some ideas on how to respond:
"Ethically responsible"
Destruction of human life for
research purposes is not ethical, no matter what the perceived benefit may be.
The basic tenets of ethical principles state that "One must never do evil so
that good may come from it." Destroying one human being to benefit another
violates every moral principle known outside the third world and violates the
moral and religious sensibilities of millions of taxpayers. How can one
consider any research to be ethical if it only benefits those who are not
morally offended? Hundreds of thousands of Americans are refusing to use
vaccines produced from aborted fetal cell lines. Shouldn't public tax
dollars be used in a manner that benefits ALL Americans?
"Scientifically worthy"
Despite years of research and
billions of dollars poured into embryonic stem cell research using private
funds, to date, there has not been one single cure for any human illness using
embryonic stem cells, while adult stem cells continue to provide cures for
thousands of patients with over 70 diseases. For a list of some of these
treatments, see:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/data/315/5810/328b/DC1/1
In addition, embryonic stem
cells have consistently proved that fatal tumors form whenever they are
manipulated for use in treatments and because they are not patient-specific,
like most adult stem cell treatments, patients will have severe immune rejection
problems.
"In
Accordance with Existing Law"
Research which involves the
deliberate destruction of human life violates every principle found in existing
law, including the Code of Federal Regulations 45 CFR 46, (See
http://www.dhhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.htm ) and the Dickey
Wicker Amendment, which was signed into law under President Clinton and
states:
- SEC. 509. (a) None of the funds made available in this
Act may be used for--
-
- (1) the creation of a human embryo or embryos for
research purposes; or
- (2) research in which a human embryo or embryos are
destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of
injury or death greater than that allowed for research
on fetuses in utero under 45 CFR 46.208(a)(2) and
Section 498(b) of the Public Health Service Ac (42 U.S.C.
289g(b)) (Title 42, Section 289g(b), United States
Code).
- (b) For purposes of this section, the term "human embryo
or embryos" includes any organism, not protected as a human
subject under 45 CFR 46 (the Human Subject Protection
regulations) . . . that is derived by fertilization,
parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or
more human gametes (sperm or egg) or human diploid cells
(cells that have two sets of chromosomes, such as somatic
cells).
In addition, US Constitution
guarantees the right to life for every human being. Embryos ARE human
beings - and this is not an ideological fact - it is a scientific fact.
Embryos do not start out as some other sort of life form - they are not
carrots or puppies that evolve somehow through the development process.
From the first moment of the union of the egg and sperm, the embryo has all DNA
necessary to become a unique individual, including hair color, eye color,
personality traits, etc. Thus, as a human individual, they are entitled to
the same protection under Federal Law as other human beings.
Comments may also be mailed to:
NIH Stem Cell Guidelines
MSC 7997, 9000 Rockville Pike,
Bethesda, Maryland 20892-7997
Children of God for Life Responds:
Click
here to read our letter submitted on May 4, 2009 and feel free to use any
portions of the letter in your own response. Try not to copy word for word
- original letters are always best!
Read the NIH guidelines:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-9313.htm
REMEMBER: All
comments must be received by NIH on or before May 26, 2009
Note - this just in from the NCHLA official
partner of the USCCB for Action Alerts:
E-mail messages can be sent to Congress and to NIH through the NCHLA
Grassroots Action Center at:
www.nchla.org/stemcell. People are first directed to send e-mails to
their U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators. They are then directed to go to
the NIH web form, where their name and a prepared pro-life message have already
been inserted. Before submitting the comments, the user must complete a simple
"Security Check" (fill in a random set of four provided numbers). Comments can
be added to both messages.
Please encourage your people to visit the NCHLA Grassroots Action Center.
For more information, please see the attached Action Alert at:
www.nchla.org/actiondisplay.asp?ID=272 .
The USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities is preparing a special stem cell
page on their web site. See "Oppose Destructive Stem Cell Research," at:
www.usccb.org/stemcellcampaign.
To facilitate people sending their e-mails messages to Congress and NIH, the
bishops’ web site will again link to the NCHLA Grassroots Action Center
| 
