HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITION
ACT
Model Legislation & Policy Guide
For the 2011 Legislative Year
INTRODUCTION
With each passing year, we face new and increasingly complex challenges to the sanctity of
human life. New biotechnology is advancing far faster than our society’s ethical and legal
constraints that would ensure its moral use. When Aldous Huxley wrote Brave New World in
1932, human cloning was just science fiction. Today, human cloning is a reality.
Human cloning is the process through which a human egg is taken from a woman, the nucleus is
removed, and then it is replaced with a nucleus from a patient’s body cell. Using electrical shock
or “chemical bath,” the egg is tricked into believing it has been fertilized, and it begins to divide,
becoming a human embryo.
A general misconception exists that there are two types of human cloning: therapeutic cloning
(or “cloning-for-biomedical-research”) and reproductive cloning (or “cloning-to-producechildren”). However, these designations are simply two different rationales or justifications
offered for the same procedure, known medically as “somatic cell nuclear transfer,” or human
cloning.
Both rationales are morally wrong because both scientifically begin with the creation of a cloned
human being at the embryonic stage of life. The differing justifications that one clone is destined
to be destroyed for its stem cells and the other for implantation in a womb do not—and cannot—
change the basic scientific fact that the cloned human embryos created for therapeutic or
reproductive purposes are simultaneously human beings.
Currently, no federal law bans human cloning for any purpose, and the U.S. Supreme Court has
not yet spoken on the subject.
AUL has drafted the “Human Cloning Prohibition Act” to assist states seeking to ban human
cloning for all purposes. For more information and drafting assistance, please contact AUL’s
Legislative Coordinator at (202) 741-4907or Legislation@AUL.org.
DENISE M. BURKE, ESQ.
Vice President of Legal Affairs
Americans United for Life
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HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITION ACT
HOUSE/SENATE BILL No. ______
By Representatives/Senators ____________
Section 1. Title.
This Act may be known and cited as the “Human Cloning Prohibition Act.”
Section 2. Legislative Findings.
(a)
The [Legislature] of the state of [Insert name of State] finds that:
(1)
At least one company has announced that it has successfully cloned a human
being at an early embryonic stage of life, and others have announced that they
will attempt to clone a human being using the technique known as somatic cell
nuclear transfer.
(2)
Efforts to create human beings through cloning mark a new and decisive step
toward turning human reproduction into a manufacturing process in which human
beings are made in laboratories to preordained specifications and, potentially, in
multiple copies.
(3)
Creating cloned live-born human children, or “cloning-to-produce-children,”
begins by creating cloned human beings at the embryonic stage of life, a process
which some also propose as a way of creating human embryos for destructive
research as sources of stem cells and tissues for possible treatment of other
humans, or “cloning-for-biomedical-research;”
(4)
Many scientists agree that attempts at “cloning-to-produce-children” pose a
massive risk of producing children who are stillborn, unhealthy, or severely
disabled, and that attempts at “cloning-for-biomedical-research” always result in
the destruction of human beings at the embryonic stage of life when their stem
cells are harvested.
(5)
The prospect of creating new human life solely to be exploited (“cloning-toproduce children”) or destroyed (“cloning-for-biomedical-research”) in these
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ways have been condemned on moral grounds as displaying a profound disrespect
for human life.
(6)
The distinction between so-called “therapeutic” and “reproductive” cloning is a
false distinction scientifically because both begin with the reproduction of a
human being at the embryonic stage of life, one destined for implantation in a
womb and one destined for destructive farming of its stem cells. Regardless of its
ultimate destiny, all human embryos are simultaneously human beings.
(7)
It will be nearly impossible to ban only attempts at “cloning-to-produce-children”
if “cloning-for-biomedical-research” is allowed because cloning would take place
within the privacy of a doctor-patient relationship; the implantation of embryos to
begin a pregnancy is a simple procedure; and any government effort to prevent
the implantation of an existing cloned embryo or to prevent birth once
implantation has occurred would raise substantial moral, legal, and practical
issues.
(b)
Based on the findings above, it is the purpose of this Act to prohibit the use of cloning
technology to initiate the development of new human beings at the embryonic stage of life for
any purpose.
Section 3. Definitions.
For purposes of this Act:
(a)
“Human cloning” means human asexual reproduction, accomplished by (1) introducing
the genetic material from one or more human somatic or embryonic cells into a fertilized or
unfertilized oocyte whose nuclear material has been removed or inactivated before or after
introduction, so as to produce an organism at any stage of development with a human or
predominantly human genetic constitution; (2) artificially subdividing a human embryo at any
time from the two-cell stage onward, such that more than one human organism results; or (3)
introducing pluripotent cells from any source into a human embryo, nonhuman embryo, or
artificially-manufactured human embryo or trophoblast, under conditions where the introduced
cells generate all or most of the body tissues of the developing organism.
(b)
“Somatic cell” means a cell having a complete set of chromosomes obtained from a
living or deceased human body at any stage of development.
(c)
“Embryo” means an organism of the species homo sapiens from the single cell stage to
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eight (8) weeks development.
(d)
“Fetus” means an organism of the species homo sapiens from eight (8) weeks
development until complete expulsion or extraction from a woman’s body, or removal from an
artificial womb or other similar environment designed to nurture the development of such
organism.
(e)
“Pluripotent cells” means stem cells possessing the ability to give rise to most or all of
the various cell types that make up the body. One demonstration of pluripotency is the ability,
even after prolonged culture, to form derivatives of all three embryonic germ layers from the
progeny of a single cell.
Section 4. Prohibitions.
It shall be unlawful for any person or entity, public or private, to intentionally or knowingly:
(a)
Perform or attempt to perform human cloning;
(b)
Participate in an attempt to perform human cloning;
(c)
Transfer or receive the product of human cloning for any purpose; or
(d)
Transfer or receive, in whole or in part, any oocyte, embryo, fetus, or human somatic cell
for the purpose of human cloning.
Section 5. Exceptions.
Nothing in this Act shall restrict areas of scientific research not specifically prohibited by this
Act, including in vitro fertilization; the administration of fertility-enhancing drugs; research in
the use of nuclear transfer or other cloning techniques to produce molecules, DNA, tissues,
organs, plants, animals other than humans, or cells other than human embryos.
Section 6. Penalties.
(a)
Criminal Penalties:
(1)
Any person or entity that violates Sections 4(a) or 4(b) of this Act shall be guilty
of a [Insert appropriate penalty/offense classification].
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(2)
Any person or entity that violates Sections 4(c) or 4(d) of this Act shall be guilty
of a [Insert appropriate penalty/offense classification].
(b)
Civil Penalty. Any person or entity that violates any provision of this Act and derives a
pecuniary gain from such violation shall be fined [Insert amount] or twice the amount of gross
gain, or any amount intermediate between the forgoing, at the discretion of the court.
(c)
Unprofessional Conduct. Any violation of this Act shall constitute unprofessional
conduct pursuant to [Insert appropriate statutes for 1) medical doctors and surgeons and 2)
osteopathic doctors] and shall result in permanent revocation of the violator’s license to practice
medicine.
(d)
Trade, Occupation, or Profession. Any violation of this Act may be the basis for denying
an application for, denying an application for the renewal of, or revoking any license, permit,
certificate, or any other form of permission required to practice or engage in a trade, occupation,
or profession.
Section 7. Severability.
Any provision of this Act held to be invalid or unenforceable by its terms, or as applied to any
person or circumstance, shall be construed so as give it the maximum effect permitted by law,
unless such holding shall be one of utter invalidity or unenforceability, in which event such
provision shall be deemed severable here from and shall not affect the remainder hereof or the
application of such provision to other persons not similarly situated or to other, dissimilar
circumstances.
Section 8. Right of Intervention
The [Legislature], by joint resolution, may appoint one or more of its members who sponsored or
co-sponsored this Act, as a matter of right and in his or her official capacity, to intervene to
defend this law in any case in which its constitutionality is challenged.
Section 9. Effective Date
This Act takes effect on [Insert date].
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STATE OF THE STATES:
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
LAWS RELATED TO HUMAN CLONING
Eight states ban cloning for any purpose, including both cloning-to-producechildren and cloning-for-biomedical-research: AR, AZ, IN, MI, ND, OK, SD, and
VA.
Eight states allow human cloning for destructive embryo research (cloning-forbiomedical-research) but prohibit attempting to bring a cloned child to term
(cloning-to-produce-children): CA, CT, IL, IA, MA, MO, MT, and RI.
Five states have no specific law on human cloning, but have statutes that either
expressly or implicitly ban destructive human embryo research on IVF-created
embryos and possibly on cloned human embryos: LA, ME, MN, NM, and PA.
One state permits destructive experimentation on both cloned human embryos and
cloned human fetuses up to live birth: NJ.
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More detailed information about the need and justification for state bans on human cloning can
be found in AUL’s annual publication Defending Life 2010: A State by State Legal Guide to
Abortion, Bioethics, and the End of Life.
Defending Life 2010 is available online at AUL.org or for purchase at Amazon.com.
For further information regarding this or other AUL policy guides, please contact:
AMERICANS UNITED FOR LIFE
655 15th Street NW, Suite 410
Washington DC 20005
202.289.1478 | Fax 202.289.1473 | Legislation@AUL.org
www.AUL.org
©2010 Americans United for Life
This policy guide may be copied and distributed freely as long as the content remains unchanged
and Americans United for Life is referenced as the creator and owner of this content.
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