Oklahoma Legislature Votes Unanimously to Outlaw All Human Cloning
Oklahoma's Legislature has voted unanimously to outlaw all human cloning from the state, and prohibit the importation of the product of human cloning. From the story:
Legislation to ban human cloning easily cleared both the House and the Senate on Friday and heads to the governor. House Bill 1114 would make it illegal "for any person or entity, public or private, to perform or attempt to perform human cloning; participate in an attempt to perform human cloning; ship, transfer, or receive the product of human cloning for any purpose; and import the product of human cloning for any purpose."Knowing that the devil is in the details, I looked up the bill (H.B. 1114), and here is how human cloning is defined: .
"Human cloning" means human asexual reproduction, accomplished by introducing the nuclear material of a human somatic cell into a fertilized or unfertilized oocyte whose nucleus has been removed or inactivated to produce a living organism (at any stage of development) with a human genetic constitution.Good. This is the first true human cloning ban to pass in a long time. Unless the governor vetoes the bill and that veto is upheld, it looks like Oklahoma has pushed back against brave new world.
Labels: Human Cloning. Ban. Oklahoma.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 2:33 PM
13 Comments
13 Comments:
Oooooooooooooo-klahoma where human cloning does not not fly!
Oooooooooooooo-klahoma where the big Black Mesa hits the sky!
Okay, so it wasn't as good as your "magical Suicide Tour," but I'm giving myself points for creativity!
Yay for the Okies! That's something anyway. And they spelled everything out, too.
Hard for anyone in the future to twist the meaning of what the Okies want as a standard on this issue. good for them.
While I applaud the state of Oklahoma, I have to wonder: If (God forbid) reproductive cloning results in a human being, is that person automatically exiled in Oklahoma?
Pretty easy to twist this to allow pretty much anything, Donnie: All a scientist has to do is modify the material they are putting in the oocyte so that it is no longer the "the nuclear material of a human somatic cell". They could make just one little tweak, or a whole bunch of tweaks, and suddenly its different from the nuclear material of a somatic cell, it is no longer "of" the somatic cell. They could also synthesize DNA from a stored sequence designed on a computer and put that in an oocyte for gestation. They could also join genetically modified stem-cell derived egg and sperm together and put that in an oocyte, or other variations.
It's much better to say what IS allowed and prohibit everything else, like the way Missouri did it with A2, when they prohibited implanting an embryo that is not the union of an egg of a human female and a sperm of a human male. We agree that it would have been better if A2 prohibited creation of embryos rather than just implanting them, but the way they did the blanket ban was much much better than specific ban on a very narrow procedure that no one really wants to do anyhow. All the scary things they want to do are still legal in Oklahoma.
No. That would be unconstitutional as the cloned born human would be entitled to every right of all of us who came into existence through sexual reproduction. Moreover, I am sure is not intended by the law--although I certainly take your point.
Is it Oklahoma that has taken steps against illegal immigration? I think it is. Oklahoma seem to have its feet on the ground. what is the status of futile care, "living wills," "guardianship," etc. there?
Im sure Missouri will be pleased to provide refuge for their top scientists.
I believe there will be no significant private investment in basic biomedical genetic research in Oklahoma because of this.
Bass just got a bit more ackwards in the skoogie.
-- except, of course, that scientists are abandoning ESCR in favor of more promising, more ethical research.
The scientists aren't simpletons, they realize that if the states legislature promulgates anti-science law that the rest of the nation allows and promotes, they will channel their efforts to other states where they are welcome.
When federal funding is allocated, states like OK will not likely use it for biotech research out of fear that it may be used for ethical ESCr. This drives Biotech industry away from hostile states. Its common sense.
But its only a few red states that have taken this extreme measure, the Biotech industry has many pleasant options for places to do business and research.
Oklahoma has distanced itself from the scientific community in large, not just the stem cell researchers. Its the citizens in these states that really lose. In addition to providing well paid technology positions a Milken Institute report estimated that every biotechnology job in California creates an additional 3.5 ancillary jobs (construction, food etc..)
Scientists wont invest in an area where they feel basic research has to fight prolife hostility when nearly every other state will welcome them with open arms. The scientists stick together, Especially those doing IPSC research. That means states like Oklahoma, Georgia, Mississippi who are introducing hostile scientific legislation will see little benefit from the Biotech boom in next great era of American innovation and industry.
"The scientists aren't simpletons, they realize that if the states legislature promulgates anti-science law that the rest of the nation allows and promotes, they will channel their efforts to other states where they are welcome."
Well, sure, if this were any sort of "anti-science law," but, of course, we all know that this is a law that ensures that science isn't divorced from ethics and that we not create new human beings only to kill them for research. Ian Wilmut has abandoned cloning.
"When I saw the embryo, I suddenly realized there was such a small difference between it and my daughters. . . I thought, we can't keep destroying embryos for our research. There must be another way." -- Shinya Yamanaka, stem cell researcher
"“If human embryonic stem cell research does not make you at least a little bit uncomfortable, you have not thought about it enough.” -- James A. Thomson, stem cell researcher
How can everyone just ignore my point? If I'm wrong, tell me how I am wrong, tell me how this law prevents experimenting and killing embryos that are created using modified genes. Or is it OK to do that? Also, tell me if it is OK to create embryos from modified genes that are not the genetic material "of" a somatic cell, and bring them to life? Tell me why the law should not be a blanket ban on creating embryos that contain any human DNA but are not the union of a sperm of a man and the egg of a woman?
John Howard. This doesn't prevent destroying IVF embryos for ESCR, either. This law does one thing, it prevents human SCNT. That should be cheered regardless of that it doesn't do.
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