New Jersey Governor Set to Sign Radical Cloning Bill Sunday
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 19, 2003
Trenton, NJ (LifeNews.com) — New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey (D) is set to sign on Sunday a bill allowing human cloning that pro-life advocates are calling the most radical ever.
The New Jersey state assembly gave final legislative approval to the bill with a 41-31 vote on Monday.
If the bill is signed by the governor, as is expected, it will be legal in New Jersey to implant cloned human embryos into wombs, allow the baby to grow for nine months, and then destroy the unborn child for research.
While the bill prohibits human cloning for reproductive purposes, it allows babies to be cloned and killed for research purposes.
Marie Tasy of New Jersey Right to Life said state residents should call McGreevy’s office and urge him not to sign the bill.
"The bill could set a precedent for other states to enact similar bills," Tasy said. "This bill is a direct attack on the sanctity of human life and has global implications."
In a letter to the pro-life organization, Gerard Bradley, Professor of Law from Notre Dame University, said the effects of the legislation," include, most notably, a commercial market in the body parts of unborn babies, and the birth of an unlimited number of ‘cloned’ babies."
The President’s Council on Bioethics agreed and four members said in a January 2003 letter to McGreevey that the legislation will "authorize human cloning and the harvesting and use of body parts of cloned humans in the embryonic and fetal stages of development.
"This legislation, if enacted, threatens to make New Jersey a safe haven for unethical medical practices, including the macabre practice of human fetal farming," the Council members said.
Meanwhile, State Assemblyman Rafael Fraguela of Union City, who became a Republican recently after a falling out with the Democratic Party, was kicked out of the Republican legislative caucus for his vote in favor of the human cloning bill.
Fraguela was the only Republican to vote for the bill.
"In light of Assemblyman Fraguela’s disturbing vote supporting the harvesting of human embryonic cells, I cannot in good conscience recognize him as a member of the Assembly Republican caucus," said Alex DeCroce, R-Morris Plains, the Assembly minority leader.
DeCroce said Fraguela failed to discuss his vote with party leaders beforehand, and knew that the party was hoping to get each member to oppose the legislation.
The bill is A2840/S1909.
ACTION: Contact Governor McGreevey at 609 292-6000 or fax a letter to (609) 292-3454 to express your opinions. You can also email the Governor using the forms found at https://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html
Related web sites:
New Jersey Right to Life – https://www.njrtl.org
