MEMORANDUM

TO:                 Honorable Members of the 94th Missouri General Assembly

FROM:           Pam Fichter, President
                        James S. Cole, General Counsel

DATE:            January 3, 2007

RE:                 Greeting and Opportunities for Advancing Pro-Life Legislation

Missouri Right to Life welcomes the beginning of the 2007 session of the General Assembly and the opportunity to advance the cause of life in our great and wonderful state.

We urge you to become co-sponsors of the Senate Joint Resolution or House Joint Resolution that addresses cloning, as sponsored by Senator Matt Bartle and Representative Jim Lembke, respectively.  The number of lives that will be at risk if human cloning is ever perfected will dwarf the number of abortions that are performed annually in our state and country.  Amendment 2 (now Art. III, sec. 38(d) of the Missouri Constitution) placed the right to clone in the state constitution, untouchable by any reasonable regulations enacted by the Legislature.  Most Missourians want to ban cloning, not enshrine it, and the SJR/HJR of Senator Bartle and Representative Lembke represents a true cloning ban.

Similarly, we urge legislators to withhold funding of any programs that could be used for cloning and the destruction of embryonic human life.  In that vein, Missouri Right to Life is strongly opposed to the sale of MOHELA assets, because the proceeds of the sale are earmarked to provide just the type of life-destructive funding that the cloners have been seeking from state government for seven years or more.  Because of Amendment 2, there is no pro-life language that the Legislature can add to any MOHELA proposal that will hold up in the courts.

We look forward to working with each of you on other pro-life initiatives as well as dangers of certain pro-abortion measures.  We look forward to working with all the members of the General Assembly and send you our sincere best wishes for your success in representing the people of Missouri.