S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2612

                       2011-2012 Regular Sessions

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 19, 2011
                               ___________

Introduced by M. of A. FITZPATRICK, FINCH -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of
  A.  CONTE,  OAKS, RABBITT, SAYWARD, SCHROEDER, WEISENBERG -- read once
  and referred to the Committee on Health

AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to creating the human
  cloning prohibition act

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the "human cloning prohibition act".
  S 2. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that:
  At least one company has announced that it has successfully  cloned  a
human  being  at  the  early  embryonic  stage  of life, and others have
announced that they will attempt to clone a human being using the  tech-
nique  known  as  somatic cell nuclear transfer. Efforts to create human
beings by cloning mark a new and  decisive  step  toward  turning  human
reproduction into a manufacturing process in which human beings are made
in  laboratories  to  preordained  specifications  and,  potentially, in
multiple copies. Creating cloned  live-born  human  children,  so-called
"reproductive  cloning,"  begins  by creating cloned human beings at the
embryonic stage of life, a process which some also propose as a  way  of
creating human embryos for destructive research as sources of stem cells
and tissues for possible treatment of other humans, so-called "therapeu-
tic cloning". Many scientists agree that attempts at "reproductive clon-
ing" pose a massive risk of either producing children who are stillborn,
unhealthy,  or severely disabled, and that attempting "therapeutic clon-
ing" always results in the destruction of human beings at the  embryonic
stage  of  life when their stem cells are harvested.  Creating new human
life solely to be exploited via "reproductive cloning" or destroyed  via
"therapeutic  cloning" in these ways has been condemned on moral grounds
by many as displaying a profound disrespect for life.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD03509-01-1

              

A. 2612                             2

  The distinction between "therapeutic" and "reproductive" cloning is  a
false distinction scientifically because both begin with the creation of
a human being at the embryonic stage of life, one destined for implanta-
tion  in a womb, one destined for destructive farming of its stem cells;
regardless of its ultimate destiny, all human embryos are simultaneously
human  beings.  It  will  be  nearly  impossible to ban only attempts at
"reproductive cloning" if "therapeutic cloning" is allowed because:
  (i) cloning would take place within the privacy  of  a  doctor-patient
relationship;
  (ii)  the  transfer of embryos to begin a pregnancy is a simple proce-
dure; and
  (iii) any government effort to prevent the  transfer  of  an  existing
cloned  embryo,  or  to  prevent birth once transfer has occurred, would
raise substantial moral, legal, and practical issues.
  Based on the above findings, it is the purpose of this act to prohibit
the use of cloning technology to initiate the development of  new  human
beings  at  the  embryonic stage of life for any purpose, therapeutic or
reproductive.
  S 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 32-B  to
read as follows:
                              ARTICLE 32-B
                      HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITION ACT
SECTION 3230. DEFINITIONS.
        3231. HUMAN CLONING PROHIBITIONS.
        3232. EXCEPTIONS.
        3233. PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS.
        3234. SEVERABILITY.
  S  3230.  DEFINITIONS.  AS  USED  IN THIS ARTICLE, THE FOLLOWING TERMS
SHALL HAVE THE FOLLOWING MEANINGS:
  1. "HUMAN CLONING" MEANS HUMAN ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION,  ACCOMPLISHED  BY
INTRODUCING  THE GENETIC MATERIAL OF A HUMAN SOMATIC CELL INTO AN OOCYTE
WHOSE NUCLEUS HAS BEEN REMOVED  OR  INACTIVATED,  TO  PRODUCE  A  LIVING
ORGANISM WITH A HUMAN OR PREDOMINANTLY HUMAN GENETIC CONSTITUTION.
  2.    "SOMATIC CELL" MEANS A CELL HAVING A COMPLETE SET OF CHROMOSOMES
OBTAINED FROM A LIVING OR DECEASED HUMAN BODY AT ANY STAGE  OF  DEVELOP-
MENT.
  3. "OOCYTE" MEANS THE HUMAN FEMALE EGG.
  4.  "EMBRYO"  MEANS  AN  ORGANISM OF THE SPECIES HOMO SAPIENS FROM THE
SINGLE CELL STAGE TO EIGHT WEEKS DEVELOPMENT.
  5. "FETUS" MEANS AN ORGANISM OF THE SPECIES HOMO  SAPIENS  FROM  EIGHT
WEEKS  DEVELOPMENT UNTIL COMPLETE EXPULSION OR EXTRACTION FROM A WOMAN'S
BODY, OR REMOVAL FROM AN ARTIFICIAL WOMB OR  OTHER  SIMILAR  ENVIRONMENT
DESIGNED TO NURTURE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUCH ORGANISM.
  S  3231.  HUMAN  CLONING  PROHIBITIONS.   IT SHALL BE UNLAWFUL FOR ANY
PERSON OR ENTITY, PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, TO INTENTIONALLY OR KNOWINGLY:
  1. PERFORM OR ATTEMPT TO PERFORM HUMAN CLONING;
  2. PARTICIPATE IN AN ATTEMPT TO PERFORM HUMAN CLONING;
  3. TRANSFER OR RECEIVE THE PRODUCT OF HUMAN CLONING FOR  ANY  PURPOSE;
OR
  4.  TRANSFER  OR  RECEIVE,  IN  WHOLE  OR IN PART, ANY OOCYTE, EMBRYO,
FETUS, OR HUMAN SOMATIC CELL, FOR THE PURPOSE OF HUMAN CLONING.
  S 3232. EXCEPTIONS.  NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE SHALL RESTRICT  AREAS  OF
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH NOT SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITED BY THIS ARTICLE, INCLUD-
ING  IN  VITRO  FERTILIZATION, THE ADMINISTRATION OF FERTILITY-ENHANCING
DRUGS, RESEARCH IN THE USE OF NUCLEAR TRANSFER OR  OTHER  CLONING  TECH-

A. 2612                             3

NIQUES  TO  PRODUCE  MOLECULES, DNA, TISSUES, ORGANS, PLANTS, OR ANIMALS
OTHER THAN HUMANS, OR CELLS OTHER THAN HUMAN EMBRYOS.
  S  3233.  PENALTIES  FOR  VIOLATIONS. 1. (A) ANY PERSON OR ENTITY THAT
VIOLATES SUBDIVISIONS ONE AND TWO OF SECTION THIRTY-TWO HUNDRED  THIRTY-
ONE OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE GUILTY OF A CLASS D FELONY.
  (B)  ANY PERSON OR ENTITY THAT VIOLATES SUBDIVISIONS THREE AND FOUR OF
SECTION THIRTY-TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE GUILTY OF
A CLASS A MISDEMEANOR.
  2. ANY PERSON OR ENTITY THAT VIOLATES ANY PROVISION  OF  THIS  ARTICLE
AND  DERIVES  A  PECUNIARY GAIN FROM SUCH VIOLATION SHALL BE FINED UP TO
ONE MILLION DOLLARS PURSUANT TO THE PREVAILING  FEDERAL  PENALTY  GUIDE-
LINES  OR  TWICE  THE  AMOUNT  OF GROSS GAIN, OR ANY AMOUNT INTERMEDIATE
BETWEEN THE FOREGOING, AT THE DISCRETION OF THE COURT.
  3. ANY VIOLATION  OF  THIS  ARTICLE  SHALL  CONSTITUTE  UNPROFESSIONAL
CONDUCT  AND  SHALL  RESULT  IN  PERMANENT  REVOCATION OF THE VIOLATOR'S
LICENSE TO PRACTICE MEDICINE.
  4. ANY VIOLATION OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE THE BASIS:
  (A) FOR DENYING AN APPLICATION FOR,
  (B) FOR DENYING AN APPLICATION FOR THE RENEWAL OF, OR
  (C) FOR REVOKING ANY LICENSE, PERMIT, CERTIFICATE, OR ANY  OTHER  FORM
OF  PERMISSION  REQUIRED TO PRACTICE OR ENGAGE IN A TRADE, OCCUPATION OR
PROFESSION.
  S 3234. SEVERABILITY. IF ANY CLAUSE, SENTENCE, PARAGRAPH,  SECTION  OR
PART  OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE ADJUDGED BY ANY COURT OF COMPETENT JURIS-
DICTION TO BE INVALID AND  AFTER  EXHAUSTION  OF  ALL  FURTHER  JUDICIAL
REVIEW,  THE JUDGMENT SHALL NOT AFFECT, IMPAIR OR INVALIDATE THE REMAIN-
DER THEREOF, BUT SHALL BE CONFINED  IN  ITS  OPERATION  TO  THE  CLAUSE,
SENTENCE,  PARAGRAPH,  SECTION OR PART OF THIS ARTICLE DIRECTLY INVOLVED
IN THE CONTROVERSY IN WHICH THE JUDGMENT SHALL HAVE BEEN RENDERED.
  S 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
have become a law.