Mike Castle, sponsor of the embryo-destroying federal-funding stem-cell-research bill in the House is working against the Santorum-Specter alternatives bill the Senate is voting on today. This is going around from his office:

Rep. Castle is urging your bosses who voted in favor of h.r. 810, the stem cell research enhancement act, to vote against the alternative pluripotent stem cell therapies act which is on suspension tonight.

details below:

REASONS TO OPPOSE S. 2754/H.R. 5526

The Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Act

· Mandates the National Institutes of Health to support highly speculative research, some of which has been deemed unethical by the President’s own Bioethics Council and this mandated research may violate current law because embryos will be destroyed with federal dollars

· Takes focus away from advancing cures through federally funded embryonic stem cell research from excess IVF embryos.

· Alternative methods described in legislation are highly speculative and are either simply ideas or unproven in a human model.

· Time wasted on exploring speculative methods of derivation delays the research even more, which holds up treatments.

· NIH can and does already conduct this research; therefore, the legislation is unnecessary.

· Bill’s SOLE purpose is to provide “political cover” for those who do not support stem cell research to say they do.

· Leading researchers and Nobel Laureates say “S. 2754 is unneeded and if passed would deflect from the current urgent need for generating new stem cell lines from excess IVF-derived blastocysts.”

· Legislation never went through committee process and was not able to be amended.

· Could NEVER be charged for not supporting stem cell research if you vote against this bill.