The Louisiana House of Representatives passed a bill banning human cloning and its use for human reproduction late Wednesday. Pro-life opponents are awaiting the bill to be signed by Governor Kathleen Blanco, who has pledged to sign such a bill if it were come up to a vote in the Louisiana Family Forum's 2003 Voter's Guide Questionnaire.
Rep. Gary Beard and Sen. Art Lentini spearheaded the bill, which also bans using cloned humans cells in medical stem cell research.
Scientists believe that by taking the nuclei of the desired cell and replacing it into an emptied egg, human cloning reproduction is possible if the “new” egg were inserted into the womb or stem cells creating organs which could cure several diseases is plausible.
Beard argues that creating stem cells would destroy the cloned cell.
The practice would allow researches "to clone a human being and then destroy a human life for the purpose of research,” he said.
Rep. Eric LaFleur, a Roman Catholic had earlier added language to the Beard/Lentini Total Human Cloning Ban Bill that allowed for therapeutic cloning but the amendment was stripped during Wednesday’s vote after lobbying efforts from the Roman Catholic Church and conservative groups.
In its "Alert" updates, Family Research Council urged on voters to call on Gov. Blanco to sign the bill, saying “human cloning and embryonic stem cell research are unnecessary for medical and scientific progress because of promising, proven ethical treatments seen using adult stem cell research.
