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LOUISIANA: Constitutional Bias Has Unforeseen Effects By KEVIN MCGILL - Associated Press writer 05/31/04 Things are rarely simple at the Capitol, but there were a couple of issues that state lawmakers once thought they had pretty much reduced to the fundamentals. When life begins, for example; or who can marry whom. Scientists, theologians and philosophers may differ about when human life begins, but as far as the Legislature was concerned the matter was pretty much settled during the 1991 abortion debates: Sperm meets egg, sperm unites with egg, human life happens. Simple. Now, there's a more complicated scenario: Scientist obtains human egg cell. Scientist removes genetic material and places into this receptacle genetic material from a donor's skin cell. He places the resulting product in a petri dish. And then? Theoretically, that cell could then be energized and placed in a woman's womb and developed into a flesh-and-blood copy of the skin cell donor. There are no credible accounts of this having happened yet, but it's on the horizon. On the other hand, that cloned cell also could be used to develop "stem cells," as was done for the first time earlier this year in South Korea. Stem cells, medical experts say, can be coaxed into developing into different kinds of tissue and could be a boon in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, and juvenile diabetes, among other ailments. Developing stem cells means destruction of the original cloned cell, however, giving rise to a debate about whether that cell is a human life. The Senate has voted both ways. First they sent the House a bill by Senate President Don Hines that would ban reproductive cloning but allow therapeutic cloning for development of stem cells. A week later senators sent over Sen. Art Lentini's bill banning both practices. Mothers of diabetic toddlers tearfully begged lawmakers to kill Lentini's bill, foreseeing a day when a skin cell from her own child could be developed into a treatment that would mean the end of daily rituals of blood and pain -- constant finger pricks and daily insulin shots. But senators were torn. On one side were those mothers and children, with their backers in the scientific and medical communities (including Hines, a physician). On the other side were the state's Roman Catholic hierarchy and conservative religious groups, who also boasted support from prominent medical researchers. Lines between the two sides do blur. Sen. Robert Adley, D-Benton, describing himself as a born-again Christian, sided with Hines. "I know for some of us it's very, very difficult because the church has said the world is flat," Adley said. The House must now decide which bill to pass. Or perhaps representatives will pass both and punt the issue to Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Meanwhile, there remains the marriage issue -- no longer a simple matter of boy-meets-girl. Both the House and the Senate have passed proposed constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and civil unions. But the amendments also state that a "legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized." Brian Chase, a lawyer who handles gay rights cases, said the seemingly simple language is "intentionally vague" and would likely lead gay rights opponents to challenge policies in which governments or private entities, such as Tulane University, offer domestic partner benefits. An added complication to the issue cropped up last week with another proposed constitutional change. This one, intended to clarify aspects of the homestead property exemption, now includes language that lets co-owners of one home claim the exemption only if they are blood relatives, related by adoption, or are spouses. Adley supported the measure because, he said, he wanted to be sure the homestead exemption is not granted to same-sex couples (a policy some say is already in practice, based on state attorney general opinions of past years). Trouble is, according to Jim Pate, of the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, that policy also hurts low-income heterosexuals who want to pool resources to buy a house. But nothing's simple. As Joe Cook of the Louisiana ACLU said: "It just shows that when you start to enshrine discrimination in the constitution that it has unintended consequences." Kevin McGill covers state government for The Associated Press SOURCE: The Baton Rouge Advocate, LA http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/053104/opi_lasptlt001.shtml * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn