Louisiana continues clone wars

The US state of Louisiana's House of Representatives has voted 69-32 in favour of legislation banning all forms of human cloning. The vote follows a similar result last week, where the state's Senate voted 29-8 in favour of the bill (SB 873, sponsored by Senator Arthur Lentini), which bans human cloning for both reproductive and research purposes, and imposes criminal penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine.

The previous week, however, the state Senate had approved an alternative bill (SB 74), that would ban reproductive cloning but allow embryos to be cloned for embryonic stem (ES) cell research (therapeutic cloning). Lobbying has been strong on both sides of the debate, and the less restrictive bill is still 'alive' and is also scheduled to be considered by the House of Representatives. Bill SB 74 has already been approved by the Health and Welfare Committee of the Louisiana Senate and later passed by the full Senate by 24 votes to 13. It would make reproductive cloning a criminal offence, subject to individual fines of up to $5 million and corporate fines of up to $10 million, but cloning to create embryos for ES cell research would be allowed.

The State Governor, Kathleen Blanco, said last week that she plans to sign whichever cloning bill is given final approval by the legislature, although she reserved 'the right to look at the bill itself as it comes to my desk'. But, she said, she does not know what she will do if both versions of the ban arrive at the same time. 'There are some serious considerations in either one', she said, adding 'I'm not favouring one or the other'. Some scientists have told her that if the legislation prohibiting therapeutic cloning is passed, it will send a signal to researchers and the biotechnology industry that Louisiana is anti-science. But Blanco said she is not convinced that outlawing cloning for research purposes will have a negative effect: 'We can direct research in all sorts of different ways. It doesn't necessarily have to be cloning research. There are many, many opportunities out there'.