Nebraska Legislature Gives Initial Approval to Bill Banning Human Cloning Funding
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 26, 2008
Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) — The Nebraska legislature has given initial approval to a bill that would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for either kind of human cloning. LB 606 would ban the use of public funds to create human embryos for the purpose of destroying them for research, but wouldn’t prohibit either type of human cloning.
Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, had previously said the pro-life group supports the bill even though it doesn’t ban either reproductive or research-based cloning of human beings.
The measure was a compromise that Nebraska Right to Life initially indicated had problems, but was later changed to earn its support.
According to AP, Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, who helped put the compromise measure together, said during the debate, "It’s a good day for research and it’s a good day for people who have concerns" about stem cell research."
Schmit-Albin previously told the Associated Press that the changes satisfy her group’s concerns.
"While bioethics is not an area that invites compromise, we acknowledge that we gain enough with LB606 to merit supporting it," she said. "This is one of those times where we can gain something or achieve nothing, and we chose the former."
She said her group opposed original wording that would have allowed scientists to clone and kill human embryos for research purposes.
"We vigorously opposed this ‘clone and kill’ language as it could have emboldened private-sector cloning labs to come into Nebraska, and we are thankful it was removed," Schmit-Albin said.
The measure also puts together a panel of scientists and medical school deans to award $500,000 in grants for non-embryonic stem cell research.
Related web sites:
Nebraska Right to Life- https://www.nebraskartl.org
