On February 12, the House Judiciary Committee approved, 19-12, a bill (H.R. 534) to permanently ban all human cloning. Cosponsored by Reps. Dave Weldon (R-FL) and Bart Stupak (D-MI), H.R. 534 would create criminal and civil penalties for any individual or entity that performs or attempts to perform human cloning. The bill would prohibit individuals or entities from shipping or receiving the product of human cloning. Additionally, the bill would prohibit cloning for medical research purposes.
There are two types of cloning–reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning. Reproductive cloning involves the development of a complete individual from a single body cell, such as the creation of the sheep Dolly. Therapeutic cloning creates embryonic stem cells that are genetic matches to the patient for the purpose of repairing damaged and diseased tissue. While the committee agreed to a ban on reproductive cloning, Members offered amendments that would have allowed cloning for research purposes.
The committee defeated, 12-19, an amendment offered by Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) that would have allowed the cloning of embryonic stem cells, including new cell lines, for the purpose of furthering scientific understanding.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) also offered an amendment that would have allowed the cloning of new embryonic stem cells, in order to create genetically diverse stem cell lines. The amendment was defeated by voice vote.
A proposal by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) would have limited the ban in the legislation to three years; however, it was defeated by voice vote.
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) offered an amendment that would have exempted the shipping, receipt, and import for use in medical treatment of any product derived from a cloned embryo. The amendment was defeated, 12-19. Rep. Scott also offered an amendment that would have required the General Accounting Office to assess the need to change the prohibition on human cloning. However, Rep. Scott withdrew the amendment and will offer it when the House considers H.R. 534 after the President’s Day recess.
