Right-to-lifers reprimand senators who dare to vote their consciences

Wisconsin Right To Life, which seems to own a majority of Wisconsin legislators lock, stock and barrel, couldn't believe that some of their wholly-owned state senators actually had the courage to vote for an amendment the "right-to-life" extremists opposed.

The amendment by State Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, to exempt therapeutic cloning for stem cell research from an anti-cloning bill, failed on a 17-16 vote, and the bill subsequently passed and will go to Gov. Jim Doyle, who has promised to veto it. (See earlier post. Darling shows courage, then caves in to extremists.

The Capital Times reports:

"It is difficult to express the sadness we feel that three pro-life senators believe it is morally acceptable to create human embryos via cloning so that they can be used in biomedical experiments that will kill them," Susan Armacost, legislative director of the group, said in a news release on Thursday.

"Well prior to the state Senate votes on AB 499, Wisconsin Right to Life made it crystal clear to every senator that we would consider a vote for the Darling amendment to be a vote against the bill itself, regardless of how a senator might vote on final passage," she added. "We consider the key vote in regard to AB 499 to be the Darling amendment. The vote on that amendment shows which senators are comfortable with creating human life for the express purpose of destroying it for medical experiments."

The three senators named in the news release are Sens. Michael Ellis, R-Neenah; Jeffrey Plale, D-Milwaukee; and Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay. All three, despite their support for the therapeutic cloning exemption, voted for the full ban after the amendment failed to muster enough votes for passage...

Armacost said in an interview that her group called the three senators on the carpet because each had pledged in a pre-election questionnaire that they would not support cloning for any purpose.

"That's why we're so shocked and saddened," she said. "Obviously on this issue they just feel it's acceptable to create human life and destroy it."

During debate this week on the cloning bill, Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said that his Republican colleagues were afraid to oppose the legislation because of the intimidation tactics of Wisconsin Right to Life.

Darling, who sponsored the amendment, also voted for final passage but somehow escaped their wrath and was not mentioned in the release.

Meanwhile, State Sen. Roger Breske, D-Eland, the Democrat who provided the winning margin to table Darling's amendment, goes merrily on his way. There seems to be no consequence for jumping ship and voting against his caucus and the governor. No one says a word.

No wonder Right-to-Life has a disproportionate amount of influence, even though a majority of voters are pro-choice and pro-stem cell research. They play for keeps, we don't. The only elected official liberals seem to want to hold accountable is Jim Doyle, while Democratic legislators wander off the reservation at will, and progressives just assume Doyle will save them with yet another veto. All the more reason to make sure Doyle and his veto are still in the East Wing come 2007.