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Wisconsin Assembly Votes to Ban Cloning Embryos

Posted on: Thursday, 23 June 2005, 21:45 CDT

MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin Assembly approved one of the nation's toughest bans on human cloning Thursday despite concerns the bill would cripple embryonic stem cell research in the state where it was discovered.

The bill not only bans cloning to create a baby but also outlaws so-called therapeutic cloning that researchers say could advance the understanding of genetic diseases. It also would prohibit Wisconsin scientists from using embryos cloned in research labs in other states.

The Assembly passed the measure 59-38. It now goes to the Senate, which could debate it next week. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle has promised a veto.

"My real concern is that this bill is really an attempt to ... stop stem cell research. I've said over and over that's not going to happen," he said.

Doyle and scientists said they support a ban on reproductive cloning, in which a women's uterus is implanted with a cloned embryo to make a baby, but they urged Republicans to drop the ban on therapeutic cloning.

Scientists first isolated human embryonic stem cells in 1998 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The school holds the patents to the only U.S. stem cell lines available for federal funding and has spent millions on biotechnology infrastructure.

Supporters of the bill, which would punish violators with up to 10 years in prison and $1 million in fines, said all human cloning techniques should be banned because they cross an ethical line.

"What we're saying is you're not going to create human life and then destroy it by way of cloning," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Steve Kestell, a Republican.

Rep. Gary Sherman said opposition to human cloning is universal but urged colleagues to allow cloning research. The Democrat said critics of the research "are more focused on a single cell in a petri dish than on the suffering of millions of people" and are attempting to impose their religious values on others.

Therapeutic cloning aims at extracting stem cells, the building blocks of the human body that can be molded into any type of cell. The technique could allow researchers to understand how diseased cells grow and perhaps form replacement parts for diseased and injured organs.

Critics object to the practice because it involves destroying days-old embryos and say it could allow rogue scientists to clone humans.

Source: By RYAN J. FOLEY/AP

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