The Associated Press
OMAHA - Groups that wrangled for years to prevent any human cloning in Nebraska breathed easier Tuesday after state lawmakers gave final approval to a compromise on stem cell research.
“We’re just relieved it’s finally over,” said Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life. “It’s been a long haul. It’s been since 2000 when the first bioethics issue came before the Legislature with the fetal tissue ban.”
No one voted against the bill (LB606) from the Judiciary Committee, which was quickly signed by Gov. Dave Heineman. An emergency clause puts it into immediate effect.
The measure prohibits the use of state money or facilities for creating or destroying embryos for stem cell research using a technique commonly referred to as therapeutic cloning. At the same time, the new law allows research using existing lines of stem cells to continue and assures university officials they won’t face further restrictions in the Legislature anytime soon.
Greg Schleppenbach of the Nebraska Catholic Conference said it “establishes a significant ethical boundary in the state of Nebraska that says it’s wrong to destroy human embryos and it’s wrong to clone human embryos.”
Schmit-Albin said she was surprised that the legislation, which some thought was impossible after years of disagreement, passed with little debate.
“I was over there (at the Capitol). It just went really quickly. It just zipped,” she said.
Chip Maxwell, executive director of Nebraska Coalition for Ethical Research, said he, too, was surprised that such a bill passed in Nebraska.
“We thought it was going to be three rounds of slugfest on the floor of the Legislature,” he said.
Maxwell praised state lawmakers, particularly Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, for ushering in the compromise between cloning opponents and the University of Nebraska.
Researchers study embryonic stem cells in hopes of developing disease cures. They have come under fire because isolating the cells destroys embryos. Opponents of the research believe embryos are the starting point of human life and that destroying them is immoral.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center doesn’t clone human embryos for reproductive purposes or to harvest stem cells for research on disease cures, and there is a universitywide policy against doing so.
However, three teams there have been conducting research using the government-sanctioned embryonic stem cell lines. Their work includes studies on the liver, emphysema and stem cell mechanics.
The new law would not hinder that research.
University administrator Ron Withem said the legislation is “a good compromise between those that want to see lifesaving research continue and those that have moral qualms about certain aspects of it.”
As part of the deal that led to the compromise, groups opposing the destruction or creation of embryos for stem cell research agreed not to push for further cloning legislation under three conditions:
n if there are no attempts at private-sector research involving somatic cell nuclear transfer;
n if advancements in cloning do not raise new ethical dilemmas;
n and if there are no violations of the public-sector ban on cloning.
Schmit-Albin said it’s a relief that her group can go back to fighting abortion and euthanasia after years of battling the university’s medical center, an unintentional consequence of advocating a cloning ban.
“You’re fighting against motherhood and apple pie when you’re fighting the state medical center. ... You’re fighting a very popular entity, a very powerful entity,” she said.
Under the law, an advisory committee composed of the deans of Nebraska medical schools and two scientists from outside the state will be formed. The committee would award matching grants of up to $500,000 for research on nonembryonic stem cell research.