Feminists for Life Honorary Chair Patricia Heaton
and Co Chair Margaret Colin
to Meet with President Bush
Feminist leaders to also attend White House address on human cloning

Feminists for Life Honorary Chair Patricia Heaton and Co Chair Margaret Colin will meet today with President Bush at the White House. After the meeting, the two FFL leaders have also been invited along with FFL President Serrin Foster to attend a White House address by the President on the subject of human cloning, along with prominent researchers, doctors, patient advocates, bioethicists and religious leaders, among others.

Patricia Heaton is a two-time Emmy award winner and star of the hit CBS comedy, Everybody Loves Raymond. Margaret Colin’s career includes film, theater and television. Her film credits include Independence Day, The Devil’s Own and Three Men and a Baby. She appeared as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the hit Broadway show Jackie.

“We are honored that the President has recognized the work of Feminists for Life by inviting Patricia and Margaret to meet with him,” FFL President Serrin Foster said. “Feminists for Life strongly opposes the creation and destruction of human clones for research because it violates the basic tenants of feminism – nondiscrimination, nonviolence and justice for all. We reject the creating of a human life with the intent to destroy it. This research also raises serious ethical questions about the exploitation of women -- especially in regard to the demand for eggs for the cloning of embryos.”

Last year, Ms. Colin testified in the Senate in support of a complete ban on human cloning for research purposes. In her testimony, Ms. Colin noted that the “proper role of medical research is to eradicate illness, not create and then destroy human beings…we can move forward with medical research from stem cells derived from a multitude of sources. We do not need to go to extreme measures by making and destroying carbon copies of people.”

Ms. Heaton agrees, “We refuse to choose between creating and destroying one class of people for the benefit of another. And it is unnecessary. Promising new research from alternative sources must be funded.”