Louisiana and Delaware cloning and stem cell bills

The Senate Judiciary Committee of the US state of Louisiana has voted against putting forward a bill (called HB 492) that would ban human reproductive cloning and cloning for research purposes in the state. Anyone in contravention of the provisions on reproductive cloning would face a fine of up to $10 million, as well as up to 10 years in prison.

In May, the Louisiana House of Representatives voted 75-23 in favour of the bill, while also defeating a competing bill by 54-45 votes. The competing bill would have banned human reproductive cloning only, but allowed embryos to be cloned for medical research purposes, including human embryonic stem cell (ES) research. Both bills provided the same penalties for a breach of the law. The defeated bill would, however, have created a commission that would have kept all ES cell research projects under review and produced an annual report. Now that the Senate Judiciary Committee has voted not to press forward with the full ban, supporters are considering other tactics, such as persuading the full Senate to override the Committee's vote and vote on the bill themselves.

Meanwhile, a bill that would ban human reproductive cloning while allowing cloning for research purposes has been released to the Senate of the state of Delaware. The bill (called SB 80) will also allow human ES cell research to take place in the state, using embryos left over from fertility treatments and donated for research by the patients, who must give written consent. The bill, sponsored by State Senator Robert Venables, is expected to be read in the Senate this week. If passed, it would add Delaware to the list of states forming their own policies on ES cell research, contrary to the policy of President Bush, who declared, on 9 August 2001, that no federal funds would be available for research on ES cell lines created after that date.