Brownback, Landrieu Reintroduce Human Cloning Prohibition Act

Press Release

Brownback, Landrieu Reintroduce Human Cloning Prohibition Act

U.S. Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) today held a press conference to announce the reintroduction of the Brownback-Landrieu Human Cloning Prohibition Act, which bans human cloning.

"Human cloning is an affront to the most basic level of respect for human life and dignity," said Brownback. "Through the process of human cloning, human beings are reduced to commodities and spare parts. I am glad to work with my colleague, Senator Landrieu, who has fought on this issue for some time, and with all the cosponsors to try to ban human cloning."

Senator Landrieu stated, "We need only to turn on the evening news to see that human cloning is a very real and present concern. Human cloning is like an unmarked and unchecked interstate system, with researchers racing as fast as they can with few restrictions. Senator Brownback and I have worked on this issue together for several years now, and our shared conclusion remains the same: creating human life simply for the purpose of destroying it through experimentation is immoral, unethical and should be illegal."

The Brownback-Landrieu Human Cloning Prohibition Act prohibits the performance or participation in human cloning. The bill prohibits human somatic cell nuclear transfer, the process by which a human close is created. The bill does not ban medical procedures to assist a woman in becoming or remaining pregnant. It does not interfere with gene therapy, or ban DNA, cell or tissue cloning, outside of cloned human embryos. The legislation includes provisions for enforcement penalties including a criminal sentence of up to 10 years and civil fines of at least $1,000,000.

The bill currently has 28 original cosponsors.

Brownback is a member of the Senate Judiciary and Appropriations Committees.

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