Uproar Over Lab-Gag Bill!!
Here is what PETA has to say:
“Troubling news: The California State Assembly is currently considering a dangerous and anti-democratic proposal that would carve out a broad exemption from the California Public Records Act (CPRA) for “information relating to a researcher or their research at a public postsecondary educational institution.” Assembly Member Laura Friedman has introduced Assembly Bill (A.B.) 700, also known as the “lab-gag” bill, which would make it almost impossible for the public, PETA, and other animal-advocacy organizations to obtain information about taxpayer-funded experiments on animals, expose cruelty, and notify authorities of violations of federal animal-welfare laws.”
“State and federal open-records laws like the CPRA and the Freedom of Information Act are one of the very few tools available to the public to learn what’s happening to animals in laboratories at research universities. Evidence obtained via open-records laws has empowered PETA to spearhead some of our most impactful efforts to get animals out of laboratories, including our successful campaigns to end hideously cruel cat experiments at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and baby monkey experiments at the National Institutes of Health. PETA recently filed a lawsuit against the University of California–Davis seeking to obtain videotapes of its experiments on young monkeys.
Both the California News Publishers Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of California have announced their opposition to this bill. These organizations see the legislation for what it is: an attack on freedom of information.
We need your help to stop A.B. 700, California’s “lab-gag bill,” which would exempt university researchers from state open-records laws, ensuring that taxpayer-funded animal experiments are shrouded in secrecy.
California residents, please urge your state Assembly member to vote NO on A.B. 700.” We have reached out to Assembly Member Friedman for comment and invite her on any time to respond.
What's Your Reaction?
This is horrific. How does this Assembly woman who sponsored this sickening bill sleep at night? There must be money involved to motivate someone to sponsor something this monstrous. It’s barbaric, cruel, and inhumane. What do these labs have to hide? I smell self-interest and greed.