"Human reproductive cloning is simply wrong – it's immoral and unethical. Congress must act to make our federal law clear in this regard," said Senator Collins. "It's the right thing to do now and for the future to make sure the law specifies that cloning a human being and any attempt to do so is a federal crime. Our bill is also designed to avoid the risk that valuable and legitimate research in the U.S. will result in a human clone anywhere else in the world."
The Collins-sponsored anti-cloning bill would: make it a federal crime to clone or attempt to clone a human being; prohibit the shipment of the product of nuclear transplantation in interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of human cloning in the U.S. or elsewhere; and prohibit the export of an unfertilized blastocyst to any foreign country that does not ban human cloning. Any act that violates the human cloning ban will be punishable by: up to ten years in prison; fines of one million dollars or three times any profits made, whichever is greater, in addition to the prison term; and the forfeiture of any property, real or personal, derived from or used to commit the crime.
Senator Collins opposes reproductive human cloning but supports therapeutic stem cell research. "Early research has shown that stem cells have the potential to develop into and replace cells that have been destroyed in people with Type 1 diabetes and other devastating diseases," said Senator Collins. "We simply cannot ignore the potential that this research holds for our family and friends who could be helped by the therapeutic use of such medical advances."
More than forty Nobel Laureates, two National Academies of Science expert committees, over 140 patient and research organizations and a majority of Americans support or have called on Congress to enact a ban on human reproductive cloning, one that ensures that anyone who might attempt to clone a human being is severely punished and one that does not cripple important medical research.
The anti-cloning legislation is also sponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Barbara Boxer (D-CA),Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), John Kerry (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), James Jeffords (I-VT), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Ted Stevens (R-AK).