The U. S. House of Representatives, by a decisive, bipartisan vote, approved legislation on February 27 to prohibit the creation of human embryos by cloning.  The House approved the Weldon-Stupak Human Cloning Prohibition Act (H.R. 534), 241-155.  The House first rejected, 174-231, the Greenwood Substitute—a competing measure that the White House had condemned as allowing "human embryo farms."  The California delegation provided only 17of its 53 votes for the 61% final approval of H.R. 534.  Republicans voted for the ban, while Democrats opposed it, with the following exceptions:  Doug Ose of Sacramento was the only Republican in the delegation to vote against the comprehensive cloning ban.  Ose and Mary Bono, Republican of Palm Springs, voted for the Greenwood “clone and kill” substitute, but Bono also voted for H.R. 534.  Bob Filner, Democrat of Chula Vista, voted “present” on the “clone and kill” substitute and opposed H.R. 534. Five California Democrats spoke against the ban on human cloning—Lois Capps, Susan Davis, Anna Eshoo, Zoe Lofgren, and Adam Schiff, (Six members were absent: Joe Baca, Elton Gallegly, Juanita Millender-McDonald, Gary Miller, Loretta Sanchez, and Maxine Waters.)  See the vote on the Weldon-Stupak Human Cloning Prohibition Act, H.R. 534 at:  http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2003&rollnumber=39

The German Parliament approved a declaration urging the government to change its position at the United Nations, and to embrace a comprehensive ban on all forms of human cloning.  The declaration even suggested that the government should partner with the United States, which as been working to achieve this goal. In November, the European Parliament voted by a large majority in favor of a total ban on human cloning, but the strongest opposition at the United Nations to a complete ban on human cloning has come from France and Germany.  See the February 21 Friday Fax in the archives of the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute website:  http://www.c-fam.org/current.htm

At 6 years of age, Dolly the cloned sheep has been prematurely euthanized after being diagnosed with progressive lung disease.  Apparently lung infections are common in older sheep, which can live to 11 or 12 years.  But Dolly has appeared to be in a process of premature aging, and last year was diagnosed with arthritis.  Cloning expert, Dr. Patrick Dixon, said that “[t]he greatest worry many scientists have is that human clones—even if they don’t have monstrous abnormalities in the womb—will need hip replacements in their teenage years and perhaps develop senile dementia by their 20^th birthday.” (CNN, February 14, 2003)  The cloning process is fraught with problems. It took 277 attempts to achieve Dolly, and 86 failures before a kitten named Carbon Copy was created.  See “Dolly’s Death Resurrects Debate on Cloning Ethics” at http://www.latimes.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=la-na-cloning16feb16001517§ion=/news/printedition/asection

After almost seventeen years, the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled 8-1 on February 26, that NOW’s unconscionable attempt to circumvent the First Amendment rights of non-violent pro-life activists through the use of the federal RICO statute (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) was invalid.  This was not only a victory for pro-lifers, but for all social activist organizations.  The RICO statute was intended for use in the prosecution of organized crime, and requires a charge of extortion.  Chief Justice William Rehnquist said that while there was no dispute that the protesters had interfered with clinic operations, the activity did not qualify as extortion since no property was obtained.    http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/5274352.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp    See also:  http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31243 

The pro-assisted suicide organization, Compassion in Dying, has reported 30 physician-assisted suicides of their clients for 2002 in Oregon, a significant increase over the 17 reported for 2001, and the 21 for 2000.  Apparently these deaths represent about 80% of the total.  Between 1988 and 2001, Oregon, which is the only state to legalize physician-assisted suicide, reported 91 such deaths, and is expected to issue a report in March for 2002.  The Arizona state legislature is now considering an assisted-suicide bill. Hawaii rejected one last year and Maine and Michigan have defeated referenda to legalize assisted suicide.

Michael Despain, a baby born October 18 weighing 12 1/2 ounces at 26 weeks gestation, went home to Monee, Illinois at almost 4 months of age, weighing 4 pounds, 9 ounces.  Michael and his twin sister, Jennifer, were delivered after doctors realized that they had stopped growing at about 22 weeks and their heartbeats were irregular.  Jennifer died shortly after birth.  Although Michael suffered a collapsed lung at birth, he did not experience other problems that premature infants experience, such as brain hemorrhaging, heart problems or infections.  (UPI, February 14, 2003)

March 4 Elections-- Los Angeles Area--CPLC PAC Endorsed Candidates:
Mayor City of Azusa
Todd Afshar
Council Member; City of Bellflower
Ruth Gilson
Council Member; City of Covina
Christopher Lancaster
Council Member; City of La Puente
Vince House
Member of the Board of Trustees; Los Angeles Community College District; Office 1
Mark Isler
Council Member; City of Los Angeles; District 12
Paula L. Boland
Council Member; City of Monrovia
Dan Kirby
Council Member; City of Monterey Park
Benjamin "Frank" Venti
Sophie C. Wong
Council Member; City of Paramount
Diane J. Martinez
Council Member; City of Rosemead
Jay T. Imperial
Council Member; City of San Dimas
F. D. "Sandy" McHenry
Council Member; City of West Covina
Michael Touhey

California ProLife Council (CPLC) (www.californiaprolife.org.) is the largest statewide organization in California solely dedicated to pro-life issues. CPLC is a non-sectarian, non-partisan, non-profit grassroots organization of pro-life groups and individuals in California dedicated to protecting and fostering the most basic value of our society—respect for LIFE itself.  We seek to educate our community in regard to abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide, to identify and organize the pro-life population of the state into an effective team, and to restore respect for human life to public policy.  California ProLife Council is the California affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee, Inc. (www.nrlc.org).