LOUISIANA: Senate OKs Proposal To Ban Cloning

Hines' legislation set for hearing today

By SCOTT DYER - [log in to unmask] - Capitol news bureau
Baton Rouge Advocate, LA - May 25, 2004

The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would ban human cloning not only for reproductive purposes, but also for
medical research and treatment.

Senate Bill 873 by Sen. Arthur Lentini, R-Kenner, is the second stem-cell measure approved by the Senate this session.

The earlier bill, sponsored by Senate President Don Hines, D-Bunkie, would allow cloning for medical research but
prohibit it for reproductive reasons.

Opponents warned that the Lentini legislation would cripple Louisiana's efforts to develop embryonic stem-cell research
for medical purposes. Some of the strongest opposition came from Hines, who said SB873 could be a step backward.

"The medicine of tomorrow is going to be gene therapy and stem-cell treatment -- I don't want Louisiana to be left
behind, and I don't want the little children of our state with diabetes to be left behind either," Hines said.

Texas already actively promotes stem-cell research, with support from its governor and the Legislature, Hines said.

"They're going to take it (embryonic stem-cell research) away from us -- we're going to be left holding the bag," Hines
said.

But Lentini argued the jury is still out on stem-cell research.

"With all due respect, this isn't an economic development issue -- this is an issue that deals with life," Lentini
said.

"I don't want to be on the cutting edge of something that destroys human life, no matter how many research dollars it
brings to the state," Lentini added.

Cloning involves the removal of the nucleus from a human egg, and replacing it with genetic material from a donor.
Instead of getting its genetics from two parents, the resulting embryonic only gets its genetic material from one
parent. If implanted into a human womb, the cloned egg would develop into a carbon copy of its parent.

Hines' bill would allow human cloning to develop "stem cells" that could be used to grow organs that could be
transplanted into the clone's parent with minimal chances of rejection.

The stem-cell treatment could be used for people with diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, heart disease
and diabetes, Hines said.

By a vote of 17 for and 19 against with three abstentions Tuesday, Hines narrowly missed passing an amendment that
would have limited Lentini's bill to a ban on reproductive cloning, but allow embryonic cloning for medical research
and treatment.

The Senate then approved Lentini's SB873, which forbids all cloning for whatever purpose, on a 29-8 vote.

Hines has sponsored another bill that would forbid human cloning for reproductive purposes, but would allow embryonic
cloning for medical purposes. His Senate Bill 74 passed 24-13 on May 17.

But SB74 passed only after the Senate turned away a Lentini amendment on a 18-19 vote with two abstentions. The Lentini
amendment essentially was the legislation the Senate approved Tuesday.

Hines' SB74 is slated for a hearing today before the House Committee on Health and Welfare.

Hines said he sees nothing wrong with the use of clones for such purposes because he personally doesn't consider them
human embryos. By contrast, Hines, a physician, said he views a human embryo as the union of a sperm and an egg, not a
clone.

But right-to-life proponents contend that the cloned embryos are as human as conventional embryos created by the union
of an egg and sperm. They claim ground-breaking research can be done with cells from adult placentas and other adult
human material that doesn't involve the creation and destruction of a human embryo.

Lentini's SB873 now goes to the House for consideration, but could face an uphill battle.

A similar bill, House Bill 782 by Rep. Gary Beard, R-Baton Rouge, stalled on the House floor after the full House
amended it to allow cloning of human embryos for therapeutic research.

Beard responded by shelving his own bill, saying he did not want to pursue it in that form.

Here's how the Louisiana Senate voted on the Hines amendment to Senate Bill 873 that would have allowed cloning for
medical research, rather than a complete ban sought by Lentini.

FOR medical research (17): President Hines, and Sens. Dardenne, Hollis, Adley, Duplessis, Irons, Bajoie, Ellington,
Jackson, Barham, Fields, Jones, Boissiere, Heitmeier, McPherson, Cheek and Holden

AGAINST medical research (19): Sens. Amedee, Hainkel Romero, Boasso, Kostelka, Schedler, Cain, Lentini, Smith, Cravins,
Malone, Theunissen, Fontenot, Michot, Ullo, B. Gautreaux, N. Gautreaux, Mount and Nevers.

ABSENT for the vote (3): Chaisson, Dupre, and Marionneaux.

SOURCE: Baton Rouge Advocate, LA - May 25, 2004
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/052604/new_clone001.shtml

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