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House's cloning bill dies in Senate Use of cells in research would have been allowed By Mark Pitsch [log in to unmask] The Courier-Journal ''None of the members want to deal with that issue,'' Senate President David Williams said. FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Senate will not vote this year on a House- passed bill that would ban cloning to create a child but allow a cloning procedure using human cells for medical research, Senate President David Williams said yesterday. Senate inaction would effectively kill House Bill 265, sponsored by Rep. Larry Clark, D-Okolona. The bill passed the House last week 59- 40 after an emotional two-hour debate. ''None of the members want to deal with that issue, and there's no consensus on that issue,'' Williams said. ''I don't anticipate that'll be addressed.'' Sen. Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said last week after the House vote that he expected HB 265 to be referred to the Judiciary Committee, of which he is chairman. He said he thought that there were enough votes to move the bill out of the committee and to the Senate floor. But Stivers said yesterday that given the emotional nature of the topic, not voting ''may be a wise decision because we're trying to develop a budget (and) that has to be our priority.'' He said that if HB 265 is referred to the committee, he won't hold a hearing on it unless instructed to do so. Clark said he was disappointed. ''If we don't consider the cloning bill, there will be no law dealing with cloning in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and none dealing with stem-cell research,'' he said. ''It also had bipartisan support in the House.'' Sen. Lindy Casebier, R-Louisville, said he thought the bill could pass. ''It came out of the House with a very comfortable margin, so I think we could have gotten the votes in the Senate,'' he said. Clark worked closely with the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville to craft the bill to ban reproductive cloning but still allow therapeutic cloning, in which scientists create stem cells for research by artificially inducing an unfertilized human egg to begin dividing. Clark's bill was designed to be a compromise measure after the Senate last year defeated a bill that would have banned both reproductive and therapeutic cloning. That bill passed the House, but only later did university officials realize that it would prohibit the use of embryonic stem cells in research. The House this year defeated an amendment to HB 265 that would ban all forms of cloning. No UK or U of L researchers currently use therapeutic cloning, but officials said they expect to do so soon. If the Senate doesn't take up HB 265, universities won't be prohibited from using cloning in research, which officials have said could lead to cures for such diseases as diabetes and Alzheimer's, and to the ability to repair damaged hearts and spinal cords. Wendy Baldwin, UK's vice president for research, said having the General Assembly pass the bill would have sent a signal across the country that the state supports cutting-edge research. ''What I'm worried about is our ability to position the University of Kentucky as a place . . . (to which) researchers want to come,'' she said. Dan Hall, vice president for university relations at U of L, said it would be Clark's call to introduce similar legislation next year. Margie Montgomery, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life Association, said her group will continue to push for legislation that would ban all forms of cloning. SOURCE: The Courier-Journal http://www.courier- journal.com/localnews/2003/02/26/ke022603s373153.htm * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn