Thirteen states currently have laws that ban human cloning.
(SALEM) - Oregon State Representative Donna Nelson (R-McMinnville) proposes a state ban on human cloning.
House Bill 2662 would make it a felony for a person in Oregon to clone, or attempt to clone, a human being.
It would also create a new crime of trafficking in human clones. The new law would apply to embryos as well as fetuses.
“Cloning human life under any circumstances crosses an ethical line from which science can never turn back,” said Representative Nelson. “If we don’t take a stand now, if we don’t draw that ethical line clearly, we risk a future where new human beings are created for the sole purpose of harvesting organs or medical experimentation. This is an affront to the dignity of human life.”
Thirteen states currently have laws that ban human cloning. Two additional states, Arizona and Missouri, have prohibitions against spending public monies on cloning. House Bill 2662 comes at a time when the Oregon Legislative Assembly is also considering House Bill 2801, a bill to spend taxpayer dollars on controversial embryonic stem cell research—including so-called therapeutic cloning.
Gayle Atteberry, the Executive Director of Oregon Right to Life, sees an important nexus between the two bills. According to Atteberry, “House Bill 2801, the Democrats’ bill which promotes state funding of human cloning, points to the urgent necessity of passing Representative Nelson’s bill.”
House Bill 2662 has been referred to the House Committee on Health Care.
Representative Nelson Introduces Ban on Human Cloning in OregonSalem-News.com