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Senate approves umbilical cord blood bill

Posted on: Friday, 16 December 2005, 20:55 CST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Friday passed legislation to promote collection and expand therapeutic use of umbilical cord blood, which can be used to treat such diseases as leukemia.

The legislation involves "adult stem cells" drawn from umbilical cords of newborn babies or the placenta.

It is noncontroversial -- unlike legislation that would allow federally funded research of embryonic stem cells derived from leftover embryos at fertility centers.

Because the embryos are destroyed, the research is anathema to many abortion opponents.

The House passed an embryonic stem cell bill despite a veto threat from President Bush and the Senate is expected to take it up early in 2006.

Some lawmakers who back both bills had been reluctant to approve the cord blood bill without the embryonic stem cell bill but decided on Friday to let the less controversial bill go through. It has already passed the House and can go to President Bush for his signature.

Although cord blood is already banked, lawmakers have pushed for this bill to expand its use and availability. They say it may be easier to find a genetic match when using cord blood instead of bone marrow.

Iowa Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin complained that some of the same lawmakers pushing for the cord blood bill were also backing an annual health spending bill that would actually cut the amount of money available for cord blood banks and other biomedical research.

Source: REUTERS

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