South Carolina General Assembly
114th Session, 2001-2002

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Bill 820


Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter


                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      820
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 Senate
Introduced Date:                  20020108
Primary Sponsor:                  Reese
All Sponsors:                     Reese, Elliott, Richardson
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\nbd\11014ac02.doc
Residing Body:                    House
Date of Last Amendment:           20020529
Subject:                          Cloning of human beings or any human part 
                                  prohibited


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate  20020530  Conference Committee Appointed         88 SCC  Hutto
                                                                 Fair
                                                                 Kuhn
House   20020530  Non-concurrence in Senate amendment
Senate  20020529  House amendments amended,
                  returned to House with amendment
House   20020502  Read third time, returned with
                  amendment
House   20020501  Amended, read second time
House   20020501  Request for debate by Representative           Campsen
                                                                 Littlejohn
                                                                 Easterday
                                                                 Scarborough
                                                                 Flemming
                                                                 Hamilton
                                                                 Cotty
                                                                 J.R. Smith
House   20020501  Objection by Representative                    Scott
                                                                 Howard
                                                                 Weeks
                                                                 Mack
                                                                 Jennings
                                                                 Breeland
                                                                 Parks
                                                                 Lloyd
House   20020430  Debate adjourned until
                  Wednesday, 20020501
House   20020430  Objection by Representative                    J. Brown
House   20020424  Committee report: Favorable with       25 HJ
                  amendment
------  20020417  Scrivener's error corrected
House   20020402  Introduced, read first time,           25 HJ
                  referred to Committee
Senate  20020326  Amended, read third time, 
                  sent to House
------  20020321  Scrivener's error corrected
Senate  20020321  Amended, read second time
Senate  20020320  Committee report: Favorable with       11 SJ
                  amendment
Senate  20020108  Introduced, read first time,           11 SJ
                  referred to Committee
Senate  20011219  Prefiled, referred to Committee        11 SJ


              Versions of This Bill
Revised on March 20, 2002 - Word format
Revised on March 21, 2002 - Word format
Revised on March 21, 2002-A - Word format
Revised on March 26, 2002 - Word format
Revised on April 17, 2002 - Word format
Revised on April 24, 2002 - Word format
Revised on May 1, 2002 - Word format
Revised on May 29, 2002 - Word format

View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

HOUSE AMENDMENTS AMENDED

May 29, 2002

    S. 820

Introduced by Senators Reese, Elliott and Richardson

S. Printed 5/29/02--S.

Read the first time April 2, 2002.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 16-17-745 SO AS TO MAKE IT UNLAWFUL FOR ANY PERSON THROUGH "CLONING" TO GROW OR CREATE A HUMAN BEING, OR ANY HUMAN PART, OR TO CONSPIRE TO DO SO, TO DEFINE CLONING FOR THIS PURPOSE, AND TO PROVIDE PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.

    Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Title 16 of the 1976 South Carolina Code of laws is amended by adding:

    "CHAPTER 28

    Section 16-28-10.    This chapter may be cited as the 'Prohibition of Human Cloning Act.'

    Section 16-28-15.    The General Assembly finds:

    (1)    Human cloning is unsafe, immoral and unacceptable.

    (2)    Legislation should be enacted to prohibit anyone from attempting to conduct human cloning.

    (3)    To deter human cloning, any attempt to create a human clone should be a felony subject to severe punishment.

    (4)    The National Academies (including the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine) and the National Bioethics Advisory Commission recommended that any legislative action undertaken to ban human cloning should be careful not to interfere with important areas of scientific research, such as nuclear transplantation to produce stem cells.

    (5)    The National Academies found that there are significant differences between human cloning and nuclear transplantation. Specifically, the Academies determined that, unlike human cloning, the creation of embryonic stem cells by nuclear transplantation does not involve implantation of an embryo in a uterus and thus cannot produce a complete, live-born animal, commonly referred to as a 'clone'.

    (6)    The National Academies found that scientific and medical considerations that justify a ban on human cloning are not applicable to nuclear transplantation.

    (7)    The National Academies concluded that nuclear transplantation has great potential to increase the understanding and potential treatment of various diseases and debilitation disorders, as well as our fundamental biological knowledge. These diseases and disorders include Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, spinal-cord injury, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and many others.

    (8)    The National Academies determined that nuclear transplantation research could improve the ability to transplant healthy tissue derived from stem cells into patients with damaged or diseased organs. Such research could greatly reduce the likelihood that a person's body would reject that tissue and also help obviate the need for immunosuppressive drugs, which often have severe and potentially life-threatening side effects.

    (9)    Based on these expert conclusions and recommendations and other evidence, nuclear transplantation is a valuable area of research that could potentially save millions of lives and relieve the suffering of countless others, and thus should not be banned.

    (10)    The National Academies recommended that nuclear transplantation experiments should be subject to close scrutiny under Federal procedures and rules concerning human-subject research.

    (11)    Given the need for additional oversight in this area, strict ethical requirements for human subjects research, including informed consent, safety and privacy protections, and review by an ethics board, should be prescribed for all research involving nuclear transplantation.

    Section 16-28-20.    It is the purpose of this chapter to prohibit human cloning and to protect important areas of medical research.

    Section 16-28-25.    (A)    The following terms mean:

        (1)    'Human Cloning' means implanting or attempting to implant the product of nuclear transplantation into a uterus or the functional equivalent of a uterus.

        (2)    'Somatic Cell' means any human cell other than a haploid germ cell.

        (3)    'Nucleus' means the cell structure that houses the chromosomes.

        (4)    'Oocyte' means the female germ cell, the egg.

        (5)    'Asexual Reproduction' means reproduction not initiated by the union of oocycte and sperm.

        (6)    'Stem Cells' mean undifferentiated cells that have not yet developed into a particular type of cell that performs a specialized function such as, skin, hear, or nerve cells and can, under circumstances, develop into many different types of cells.

    (B)    It shall be unlawful for any person or other entity, public or private to conduct, or attempt to conduct human cloning. A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and upon conviction must be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both. Each violation constitutes a separate offense. A license to practice a profession or occupation issued by a board, agency, or department of the State must be suspended immediately if the licensee violates this section while engaging in that profession or occupation.

    (C)    Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict practices not expressly prohibited in this section.

    Section 16-28-30.    All research involving nuclear transplantation must be conducted in accordance with Federal Regulations and the Humans Cloning Prohibition Act of 2002. For the purposes of research, the following definitions apply:

    (1)    `Human Somatic Cell' means any human cell other than a haploid germ cell.

    (2)    `Nuclear Transplantation' means transferring the nucleus of a human somatic cell into an oocyte from which the nucleus or all chromosomes have been or will be removed or rendered inert.

    (3)    'Nucleus' means the cell structure that houses the chromosomes.

    (4)    'Oocyte' means the female germ cell, the egg."

SECTION 2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----


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