Hatch, Feinstein Propose to Make Cloning a Federal Crime

U.S. Senators Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Dianne Feinstein^[1] reintroduced legislation on March 8, to prohibit the cloning of a human being, while ensuring that promising medical research is allowed to continue.^[2]“American scientists have been pioneers in all major branches of medical research…..if we don’t act quickly, the United States may lose the opportunity to lead the world with stem cells – and millions will suffer if we hesitate. But with the great power of stem cell research, we must accept the great responsibility to set ethical guidelines and prohibit research that no one wants to see.” Hatch said.^[3]

According to Senator Feinstein “It is time to provide some certainty and sanity in our national policy…..[w]e must prohibit human reproductive cloning. It is unethical and should not be allowed……[but a]t the same time, we must unleash our scientists to develop cures for catastrophic diseases that impact millions…….We must standardize these policies under a common set of ethical guidelines.”^[4] Senator Feinstein continued to say that the unorganized milieu of state laws that are percolating the nation will result only in confusion which forbidding some researchers from conducting “lifesaving research, while their colleagues in a neighboring state receive state funding to do the same work.”^[5]

The Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Protection Act of 2007 would allow embryonic stem cell research – known as somatic cell nuclear transplantation – to proceed under strict oversight from the federal government. However, the bill would draw a strict line between promoting research and human reproductive cloning, which it makes a federal crime.^[6]Specifically, the Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Protection Act of 2007 would:

• Make it a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison to clone or attempt to clone a human being, without exception.
• Establish fines of $1 million or three times any profits made (whichever is greater) on any person who clones or attempts to clone a human being. This financial penalty is in addition to the 10-year prison term.
• Allow the most promising form of stem cell research (somatic cell nuclear transplantation) to be conducted on a human egg for up to 14 days only, under strict ethical standards and federal regulation. The National Academies of Science’ Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research recommends the 14-day limit, which is also consistent with the standard established in the United Kingdom and the California Advisory Committee on Human Cloning.
• Allow this stem cell research only to take place on unfertilized eggs.
  Ban profiteering and coercion by requiring that all egg donations for this stem cell research be voluntary, and that women who donate eggs can only be compensated minimally – large payments to induce donation are prohibited.
• Prohibit the purchase or sale of unfertilized eggs, including eggs that have undergone nuclear transplantation.
• Require that nuclear transplantation occur in labs completely separate from labs that perform in-vitro fertilization, to prevent a “blurring of the lines” and avoid the risk that eggs used in legitimate and important nuclear transplantation research would then be implanted in a woman.
• Prohibit the export of eggs that have undergone nuclear transplantation to any foreign country that does not ban human cloning. This prohibition is designed to avoid the risk that valuable research in the United States will result in a human clone anywhere in the world.
• Include strong ethics requirements that mandate informed consent by egg donors; review of any nuclear transplantation research by an ethics board; and safety and privacy protections.
• Establish civil penalties of up to $250,000 per violation for any researcher who violates the bill’s ethics requirements (even without attempting to clone a human and becoming subject to the 10-year prison term and $1 million fine).^[7]

In his opening statement to the U.S. Senate, Hatch asserted that "[m]any scientists believe..we are on the verge of a new revolution in medicine created by human stem cells.^[8] The reason stem cells are important to medicine is that many organs cannot make a sufficient number of new cells to replace damaged or lost ones. Stem cells are the only way currently known that has the potential to replace damaged cells in organs such as the pancreas, kidney, heart, brain, and spinal cord."^[9]Hatch continued to say that with the promise of stem cells comes responsibility, and while he supports the use of stem cells to treat human disease he absolutely abhors the possibility of their use for human cloning.^[10]

The bill prohibits human reproductive cloning and imposes criminal penalties for attempting to do so; It also specifies that the egg must be voluntarily donated and not purchased, and prohibits purchase or sale of eggs to which DNA has been transferred, thus effectively making any budding embryo or stem-cell trafficking operations illegal.^[11]

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^[1] The legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy, Arlen Specter, and Tom Harkin.
^[2] Senators Hatch and Feinstein Promote Stem Cell Research, Human Cloning Ban, All American Patriots (AAP), March 8, 2007.
^[3] Senator Orrin Hatch, Hatch, Feinstein Promote Stem Cell Research, Human Cloning Ban, Orrin G Hatch.com, March 8th, 2007.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Sixteen states have passed laws pertaining to human cloning, with sometimes contradictory results: 13 of these states prohibit reproductive cloning (Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Virginia). Five states prohibit biomedical research like somatic cell nuclear transfer (Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, North Dakota and South Dakota). Six states explicitly permit somatic cell nuclear transfer (New Jersey, California, Missouri, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Iowa). AAP, supra note 2.
^[6] Hatch, supra note 3.
^[7] Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Protection Act of 2007, S. 812, 110th Cong. (2007); see also GovTrack. US. S. 812--110th Congress (2007): A bill to prohibit human cloning and protect stem cell research, GovTrack.us (database of federal legislation), http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-812 (accessed Mar 21, 2007)
^[8] 153 Cong. Rec. S2905-6 (daily ed. Mar. 8, 2007) (statement of Sen. Hatch).
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.
^[11] Id.