Missourians Launch Campaign to Prohibit Human Cloning

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- A coalition of concerned
 Missouri citizens, doctors, and academics today launched the "Cures Without
 Cloning" (CWC) initiative to prohibit human cloning in Missouri. Dr. Lori
 Buffa, of St. Peters, Missouri, filed proposed ballot language with the
 Secretary of State's office this morning.
     "The Missouri Constitution currently allows for human cloning. It
 allows for the same cloning method that created Dolly the Sheep," said Dr.
 Buffa, who serves as chair of CWC. "This initiative will ensure this
 dangerous, unproven, unnecessary practice is prohibited, and allow us to
 focus on safe research that leads to lifesaving cures and treatments."
     The initiative would amend the Missouri Constitution to prohibit the
 practice of human cloning, and would prohibit taxpayer funding of human
 cloning experiments. Specifically, the coalition is seeking to place the
 following language in the Missouri constitution:
     Section 38(e) 1. It shall be unlawful to clone or attempt to clone a
 human being. Researchers may conduct stem cell research to discover cures
 for disease and develop stem cell therapies and cures, provided that the
 research complies with the limitations of this section and, in addition,
 the limitations of Section 38(d).
                    2. For all purposes within this constitution:
 
                   (1) "Clone or attempt to clone a human being" includes the
                       creation of or the attempt to create, by means other
                       than fertilization of a human egg with human sperm, a
                       new human organism that is virtually identical
                       genetically to an existing or previously existing human
                       organism or human organisms.
                   (2) "Human organism" means human life in any stage.  Human
                       life begins with an initial stage, when a single human
                       egg cell receives a complete set of forty-six
                       chromosomes, and continues through any subsequent stages
                       of embryonic, fetal, postnatal, and later development.
 
                    3. No taxpayer dollars shall be expended: (1) to clone or
                       attempt to clone a human being; or (2) to research or
                       experiment using a human organism, or any part of a
                       human organism, derived from cloning or attempting to
                       clone a human being.
     "As a doctor, I have grave concerns about experimentation with human
 cloning. It is unproven, dangerous, and outside the mainstream of society,"
 said Dr. Buffa. "We should continue to search for cures and treatments
 using stem cell research. And we should embrace the exciting promise of
 cures and treatments that proven, safe research can bring - and we should
 do so by resoundingly rejecting the practice of human cloning."
     Cures without Cloning (CWC) is leading a broad-based, statewide
 coalition of grassroots organizations committed to prohibiting the cloning
 of human beings in Missouri. Interested citizens are invited to visit
 www.MOcureswithoutcloning.com for more information.
     CONTACT: Curt Mercadante
               (314) 825-4478
 
 

SOURCE Cures Without Cloning