S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   5677
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 22, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of A. FITZPATRICK, MONTESANO, SALKA, TAGUE -- Multi-
   Sponsored by -- M. of A. MANKTELOW -- 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".
   § 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.
                                                            LBD08126-01-1
              

 A. 5677                             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.
   § 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.
   §  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.
   §  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.
   § 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-

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 NIQUES  TO  PRODUCE  MOLECULES, DNA, TISSUES, ORGANS, PLANTS, OR ANIMALS
 OTHER THAN HUMANS, OR CELLS OTHER THAN HUMAN EMBRYOS.
   §  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.
   § 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.
   § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.