June 22, 2001

Congressional Panels Debate Human Cloning Proposals

Two House subcommittees held hearings this week to consider different legislative proposals to ban the cloning of human beings. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime held a hearing June 19 that focused primarily on the legal aspects of the bills. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health met the following day for a broader discussion of the issues raised by the prospects of human cloning.

The two bills under consideration were the "Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001," (H.R. 1644), introduced April 26 by Reps. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and the "Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001," (H.R. 2172), introduced June 14 by Rep. Jim Greenwood (R-Pa.) and Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.).

H.R. 1644 would make it unlawful "for any person or entity, public or private, in or affecting interstate commerce-

"(1) to perform or attempt to perform human cloning;

"(2) to participate in an attempt to perform human cloning; or

"(3) to ship or receive the product of human cloning for any purpose."

The bill defines the term "human cloning" as "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 or predominantly human genetic constitution." H.R. 1644 also would prohibit any person or entity, public or private, from importing the product of human cloning for any purpose.

H.R. 2172 would make it unlawful for anyone "to use or attempt to use human somatic cell nuclear transfer technology with the intent to initiate a pregnancy; or to ship or transport the cellular product resulting from human somatic cell nuclear transfer technology knowing that the product is intended to be used to initiate a pregnancy."

Both sessions covered much the same ground as earlier hearings. The Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing was highlighted by the appearance of Claude Allen, deputy secretary for Health and Human Services, who testified that the Bush Administration favors the passage of specific legislation to prohibit the cloning of a human being, "including cloning techniques either to assist human reproduction or to develop cell- or tissue-based therapies." Mr. Allen appeared to favor, but stopped short of endorsing H.R. 1644, saying the Administration supports the bill's intent, but believes that "it warrants further review to resolve some technical difficulties."

All of the witnesses at both hearings agreed that human cloning for reproductive purposes should be prohibited. There was considerable disagreement whether H.R. 2172 would actually prevent reproductive cloning. Proponents of H.R. 1644 maintained that all human cloning should be prohibited because once human embryos are cloned for research purposes, it will be impossible to enforce the prohibition against implanting an embryo in a woman. Opponents of H.R. 2172 also argued it would be impossible to determine a researcher's intent in creating a cloned embryo.

Witnesses also disagreed regarding the impact of the proposals on research. Thomas Okarma, president and CEO of Genron Corporation, testifying on behalf of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), postulated that H.R. 1644 would prevent research needed to understand how differentiated cells become pluripotent - a process known as "re-programming" - thus ironically setting back adult stem cell research.

Information: Dave Moore, AAMC Office of Governmental Relations, 202-828-0525.