BILL REQ. #:  S-0479.4 

Read first time 01/27/2003.   Referred to Committee on Health & Long-Term Care.

     AN ACT Relating to stem cell research and human cloning; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds and declares that:
     (1) An estimated one hundred twenty-eight million Americans suffer from chronic, degenerative, and acute diseases, including diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, and spinal cord injury. The crippling economic and psychological burdens of such diseases result in billions of dollars every year in costs of treatment and lost productivity as well as extreme human loss and emotional suffering.
     (2) Stem cell research offers immense promise for developing new medical therapies for these debilitating diseases and a critical means to explore fundamental questions of biology. Stem cell research could lead to unprecedented treatments and potential cures for diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, spinal cord injury, and other diseases.
     (3) Washington state is home to several large medical research institutions and an expanding biomedical research industry. These organizations are committed to improving the lives of Americans suffering from chronic, degenerative, and acute diseases. Encouraging stem cell research is essential to realizing the promise of stem cell research.
     (4) Stem cell research, including the use of embryonic stem cells for medical research, raises significant ethical concerns that must be balanced with medical considerations.
     (5) While stem cell research holds enormous potential for treating or even curing some diseases, the cloning of human beings is morally and ethically unacceptable. Furthermore, the cloning of human beings poses grave health risks to any child who may be produced in this manner. Any attempt to clone a human being is in direct conflict with the policies of this state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   It is the policy of Washington state that research involving the derivation and use of human embryonic stem cells, human embryonic germ cells, and human adult stem cells from any source, including somatic cell nuclear transplantation, is permitted upon full consideration of the ethical and medical implications of this research.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Cloning of a human being" means asexual reproduction by implanting or attempting to implant the product of nuclear transplantation into a uterus or substitute for a uterus with the purpose of producing a human being.
     (2) "Nuclear transplantation" means transferring the nucleus of a human somatic cell into an oocyte from which the nucleus has been or will be removed or inactivated.
     (3) "Human somatic cell" means a diploid cell that is obtained or derived from a living or deceased human at any stage of development.
     (4) "Oocyte" means the unfertilized human ovum.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   (1) A physician, surgeon, or other health care provider delivering fertility treatment shall provide his or her patient with timely, relevant, and appropriate information to allow the individual to make an informed and voluntary choice regarding the disposition of any human embryos remaining following the fertility treatment. The information must include the option of storing unused embryos, donating unused embryos to another individual, discarding unused embryos, or donating unused embryos for research.
     (2) A patient who chooses to donate unused embryos for research after a consultation under subsection (1) of this section shall provide written consent.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   (1) A person may donate human embryonic tissue or human cadaveric fetal tissue for research purposes.
     (2) A person may not knowingly, for valuable consideration, purchase or sell human embryonic tissue or human cadaveric fetal tissue for research purposes.
     (3) Valuable consideration does not include reasonable payment for the removal, processing, disposal, preservation, quality control, storage, transportation, or implantation of human embryonic tissue or human cadaveric tissue.
     (4) A person who violates this section is guilty of a felony and upon conviction is subject to a fine not to exceed fifty thousand dollars or imprisonment not to exceed five years, or both.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) No person may knowingly engage or assist in the cloning or attempted cloning of a human being.
     (2) The attorney general may bring an action to enjoin any person from violating subsection (1) of this section.
     (3) Any person who violates subsection (1) of this section is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars for each violation. Civil penalties authorized by this subsection may be imposed in any civil action brought by the attorney general.
     (4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict areas of biomedical, agricultural, and scientific research not specifically prohibited by this section, including somatic cell nuclear transfer or other cloning technologies to clone molecules, DNA, cells, and tissues.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.