From: GBurch1@aol.com
Date: Wed Aug 11 1999 - 07:48:14 MDT
http://www.ewtn.com/ewtn/news/getstory.asp?number=19160
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9-Aug-99 -- EWTN Feature Story
PROTESTING TARGETS HUMAN CLONING IN MASSACHUSETTS
By Gary McCullough (CCN/CWNews.com)
In the shadow of the 124-year-old Worcester State [mental] Hospital, which
features a clock tower that looks as if it might have come from an Alfred
Hitchcock movie, an institution called Advance Cell Therapeutics (ACT) is
growing human clones. On Sunday afternoon, August 8, over 60 protestors
gathered at the entrance to the Bioresearch Technology Park, home of ACT, to
expose experiments they call ghoulish.
Holding signs and handing out informational literature to passing motorists
at the busy corner, the group hoped to bring public attention to the cloning
and cross-species experiments done by ACT.
The two-hour demonstration, organized by the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, of the
Washington DC based Christian Defense Coalition, was the first demonstration
in the nation against privately funded human cloning. Mahoney said, "They
are growing human beings to experiment on and then kill. This is no
different than the behavior of the Nazi doctor Mengele or the fictitious
Doctor Frankenstein."
Saying that their goal is to find a cure for maladies such as Parkinson's
Disease, the scientists at ACT are cloning embryos that are part cow and
part human. They insist they are not trying to make full-grown human clones
or human-cow hybrids. ACT defends the research in part by assuring
questioners that they destroy all human embryos by the time they are 14 days
old.
In 1995 President Clinton banned the use of federal funds for the laboratory
creation of human embryos to be harvested for medical purposes. ACT of
Worcester, Massachusetts, and Geron Corporation. of Menlo Park, California
have been able to clone humans by using private funds.
On August 9, a second demonstration in front of ACT was held during the
Monday morning rush hour, catching the attention of passing commuters.
Protestors say they were pleasantly surprised by the high number of passerby
who encouraged them with a honk or a wave.
Among those present at the Worcester protest was Ken Reed, of Operation
Rescue West, who is planning to organize a similar protest during the first
week in October at the Menlo Park, California, facility of Geron
Corporation. Reed said, "What I have learned over the past few days disgusts
me. I am sure that once the American public finds out what is going on, they
will not tolerate it."
Rev. Mahoney, who was joined in organizing the Worcester protest by Bill
Cotter, director of Operation Rescue-Boston, said the group would stage
another demonstration outside the Massachusetts state legislature in Boston
on September 29. "We hope to introduce legislation on the state and federal
level to ban human cloning," he said. He added that similar legislation
should be introduced in every state.
Rev. Mahoney said, "Americans are very uncomfortable with human cloning. It
is already illegal in Germany. Hopefully we can learn from history that the
intention to bring healing can never justify such bizarre disregard for
human life and morality."
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