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| NEWS ARTICLE March 6, 2007 Lawrence Journal-World |
Cloning ban may be dead in Kansas Legislature
Committee to move on to other business
By Scott Rothschild
Topeka — Two measures sought by conservatives to restrict cloning research may be dead for the 2007 legislative session.
Hearings on the bills, which had been scheduled for Tuesday before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, were postponed indefinitely.
“Right now, it’s just up in the air whether or not we are going to see them again this year, or we’re going to hold until next year,” Chairman Arlen Siegfreid, R-Olathe, said.
He said many committee members had problems with the bills, or needed more time to research the issue.
Meanwhile, the committee’s work is stacking up in other areas. Hearings are scheduled before the panel this week on issues dealing with illegal immigrants, funeral picketing and gambling.
Put on hold was discussion on House Bill 2098, which would define terms related to human cloning, and House Bill 2255, which would prohibit the use of tax dollars for human cloning, which included embryonic stem cell research.
Opponents of the bill prohibiting human cloning said it would also ban therapeutic cloning that uses somatic cell nuclear transfer, which is referred to SCNT.
The SCNT process transplants DNA into an unfertilized egg to grow stem cells, which are primitive cells that can develop into other types of cells under certain conditions. Researches say that this process could be used to treat diseases and repair damaged organs.
But supporters of the proposed ban, including anti-abortion groups, said the SCNT process is immoral because it destroys a human life once the stem cells are taken out.