From: Reason (reason@exratio.com)
Date: Sun Apr 06 2003 - 21:51:35 MDT
This seems like it would be worth rebroadcasting to a couple of other lists
(e.g. CR society, cryonet, etc). Permission to do so?
Reason
http://www.exratio.com/
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-extropians@extropy.org
> [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org]On Behalf Of Michael Roy Ames
> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 6:39 PM
> To: extropians@extropy.org
> Subject: Re: [wta-talk] TTA Press Release on Bill C-13 (Canada)
>
>
> Reason (and WTA),
>
> The analog is identical. If Canadians want thier voices to be heard,
> they can contact thier Member of Parilment. They can do this by regular
> mail, email or telephone. The contact information can be found online
> (in English) at:
>
> http://canada.gc.ca/directories/direct_e.html
>
> More attention is paid to constituents that provide thier contact
> information - that is home address & telephone number. The rational for
> this is to avoid multiply counting the opinion of a constituent who
> repeatedly contacts an MP about a single topic. There are no rules
> preventing someone contacting MPs from other constituencies, but the MP
> aren't required to pay attention. Most do, however, so contacting
> multiple MPs can pay off.
>
> I have worked inside the Canadian Government in enough places to know
> that the vast majoity of MPs pay close attention to verified contacts by
> constituents. They don't pay much attention to protestors on the
> street.
>
> Canadians! Please go and lobby for what you believe in - hopefully an
> extropian decision - it is neither expensive, nor time consuming to do
> so. It is, however, effective.
>
> Michael Roy Ames
>
>
> Reason wrote:
> > Quite aside from the reproductive cloning, looks like they're on
> > their way to banning theraputic cloning just as hard as the US house
> > wants to (something I've been predicting):
> >
> > http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2003/0407/government040703.shtml
> >
> > Question for the Canadians on the list: do you have a way of
> > contacting your representatives analagous to www.congress.org for the
> > US? If so, where is it?
> >
> > Reason
> > http://www.exratio.com/
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: George Dvorsky [mailto:sentdev@hotmail.com]
> >> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 2:20 PM
> >> To: extropians@extropy.org; tta-announce@yahoogroups.com;
> >> tta-talk@yahoogroups.com; wta-talk@yahoogroups.com
> >> Subject: [wta-talk] TTA Press Release on Bill C-13 (Canada)
> >>
> >>
> >> Parental Choice, Research Impinged by Bill C-13
> >>
> >> Members of parliament must amend Bill C-13 so that it doesn't
> >> unjustifiably
> >> remove valid reproductive options for Canadians or inhibit
> >> important medical
> >> research
> >>
> >> Proposed Bill C-13 is slated for debate in the House of Commons
> >> this week,
> >> and many Canadians are concerned that it will be voted into law.
> >>
> >> The bill, titled "An Act respecting assisted human reproductive
> >> technologies
> >> and related research," calls for bans on therapeutic and reproductive
> >> cloning, germ-line modifications, gender selection of offspring, the
> >> creation of chimeras and animal-human hybrids for reproduction,
> >> commercial
> >> surrogate mothers and the sale of human reproductive materials or
> >> embryos.
> >>
> >> Already the target of much criticism, the bill's potential
> >> prohibitions have
> >> infuriated many individuals and groups, including infertile couples
> >> and those people, such as Parkinson's victims, who stand a good
> >> chance of reaping the benefits of research into therapeutic cloning.
> >>
> >> Under the act, Canadians would be forbidden to pay for sperm, eggs or
> >> surrogacy. Health Minister Anne McLellan maintains that these types
> >> of reproductive contributions should be limited to acts of altruism.
> >>
> >> "How many friends do most of us have who would, out of the
> >> goodness of their
> >> heart, go through two weeks of injections, nine months of pregnancy
> >> and childbirth so that we could have a child?" asks Simon Smith,
> >> president of
> >> the Toronto Transhumanist Association. "In their reactionary attempt
> >> to prevent the commodification of human reproduction, the Liberals
> >> are ignoring
> >> the realities that Canadian couples face. People without
> >> extraordinarily altruistic friends will be doomed to a childless
> >> future."
> >>
> >> Bill C-13 isn't just unfair to the one in six Canadians who suffer
> >> from infertility, says Smith, but also to people suffering from such
> >> health conditions as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and paralysis.
> >> "Therapeutic cloning
> >> has the potential to produce stem cells that could treat or even
> >> cure many
> >> currently incurable conditions," says Smith. "If Bill C-13
> >> passes, research
> >> on therapeutic cloning won't stop, it will just move to more amenable
> >> countries. In essence, Canada will be waving goodbye to a
> >> significant part
> >> of its biotech future."
> >>
> >> George Dvorsky, Vice President of the Toronto Transhumanist
> >> Association, is
> >> concerned that under Bill C-13 Canadians will be denied what he
> >> considers to
> >> be ethical and viable reproductive options. He is an advocate of
> >> commercial
> >> surrogacy and gender selection, and believes that consenting adults
> >> in a free society should be entitled to use these types of
> >> life-giving services.
> >> "People should be wary of any attempt by the Canadian government
> >> to control
> >> the reproductive processes of their bodies," he says. "Canadians
> >> couples should be allowed to select something as basic as the gender
> >> of their own offspring. People already try to select the gender of
> >> their children using
> >> all sorts of primitive and ineffective means. Why should new
> >> means be made
> >> illegal simply because they're more effective?"
> >>
> >> Dvorsky also worries that by making commercial surrogacy illegal,
> >> couples will seek such services in the United States, or enter into
> >> shady and unmonitored underground activities.
> >>
> >> "The proposed act claims to 'respect' assisted reproductive
> >> technologies and
> >> research, and instead fails to 'respect' those Canadians who could
> >> really use those technologies and services," says Dvorsky. "This is
> >> another example
> >> of the government prying their way into the bedrooms of the nation
> >> and telling us which procreative options are appropriate for us and
> >> which are not."
> >> About the Toronto Transhumanist Association
> >> The Toronto Transhumanist Association (TTA) is a chapter of the World
> >> Transhumanist Association, a global organization founded in 1997
> >> to support
> >> discussion, research and public awareness of Transhumanist
> >> thinking. There
> >> are currently more than 50 formed or forming chapters of the World
> >> Transhumanist Association around the world.
> >>
> >> Transhumanism is concerned with ethically expanding technological
> >> opportunities for all people to live longer and healthier lives,
> >> to enhance
> >> their intellectual, physical and emotional capacities, and to
> >> enjoy a future
> >> of freedom and prosperity.
> >> Website
> >>
> >> If you're interested in learning more, please visit our Website at
> >> http://toronto.transhumanism.com or email george@betterhumans.com.
> >> Contacts
> >>
> >> Simon Smith: simon@betterhumans.com
> >>
> >> George Dvorsky: george@betterhumans.com
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _________________________________________________________________
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