Texas 79th Legislature Stem Cell and Cloning Bills

<>B>79th Legislature Bills on Cloning, Stem Cell research, and bioethics funding

SB 943 Armbrister Referred to Senate
True prohibition of cloning. No mention of research on embryos produced by other means.

HB 864 King of Parker County
True prohibition of cloning, but no mention of embryonic stem cell research or research involving the creation of embryos by in vitro fertilization.

HB 2081 Paxton Referred to the House State Affairs Committee
Prohibits State funding of any research involving destruction of human embryos, including embryonic stem cell research. Does not ban embryonic stem cell research or cloning, but would prevent tax money from being spent on them.

HB 2311 Howard
Regulates the transfer of embryos for the purpose of implantation by requiring a petition to the courts for adoption of the embryonic human.

HB 1929 Woolley (Carter Casteel has signed on as co-author) Referred to the House State Affairs Committee
"Clone and kill" bill - Redefines "cloning' as implanting or attempting to implant the product of nuclear transplantation" and mandates that embryos (called "unfertilized blastocysts," when in fact any blastocyst is an embryo, by definition) created by nuclear transplantation must be killed after 14 days, not including time spent frozen. In fact, any production of an embryo by nuclear transplantation is cloning. And the State should not require the death of human embryos.

HB 2469 Thompson Referred to the House State Affairs Committee
Creates "TEXAS INSTITUTE FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE" and an Advisory Committee that would be too easily packed with members in favor of unethical research on human subjects, as well as allocating State funds for such research and for reimbursement of "reasonable" compensation for procuring, implanting, etc. of embryos and cadaveric embryonic and fetal tissue, etc.

SB 1530 Zaffirini Referred by the Senate President to the Emerging Technology and Economic Development
> Establishes an 18 member Technology Research Planning Committee, that includes members of the Senate, the House, and members appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the current Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House. (personal comment - I think this indicates that Senator Zaffirini, at least, doesn't believe that the Republicans can hold the majority, or at least the Governor's seat)

HB 3076 Naishtat State Affairs Establish a Stem Cell Research program, coordinating board and Board, using $295 million dollars and bonds. This is better than Woolley's bill as far as money goes - at least there's a limit on money in the Bill.

"Clone and kill" bill - Redefines "cloning" as "implanting or attempting to implant the product of nuclear transplantation" and mandates that embryos (called "unfertilized blastocysts," (when in fact any blastocyst is an embryo, by definition) created by nuclear transplantation must be killed after 14 days, not including time spent frozen. In fact, any production of an embryo by nuclear transplantation is cloning. And the State should not require the death of human embryos.

SB 128 Shapleigh Referred to Senate Health and Human Services
Clone and Kill bill

SB 1733 Shapleigh
Another Clone and kill bill. Identical companion to HB 1929 by Rep Wooley

HB 2948 Swinford Referred to House State affairs

Another Clone and kill bill.

Establishing Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and "prohibits the legislature from banning stem cell research" including somatic nuclear transfer and embryonic stem cell research.

HJR 96 Naishtat - Higher Education Committee Proposing a constitutional amendment to issue bonds to fund stem cell research.

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You know in China there doing stem cells procedures in people.
If your paralzyed, have parkinsons, Alzheimer’s etc
You can get on a plane and go to China.
There's an American trained doctor who's doing stem cell surgery.
He will inject the stem cells from an aborted baby in the area's that are damaged in the body.
I saw a report about this last June on CBS.
Alot of people are going to China to do this.
I dont blame them.
If I was paralzyed I would to.
So when we hear about all the regulations about Stem Cells in the U.S.
You can go to China and they'll do what ever you want.
There's no regulations there.

In Portugal, a Dr. Lima has helped 2 Texas women walk again, using their own non-embryonic stem cells.

Dr. Willerns of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, while in favor of using embryonic stem cells, has already done research in Brazil and is beginning a program in Houston treating patients with their own bone marrow stem cells for heart failure.

Last week, Australian scientists reported that they have already developed stem cell lines of the major types of human cells, using nasal mucosal neural cells.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Peter-Hartcher/The-changing-of-the-risk-factor/2005/03/24/1111525287563.html?oneclick=true

""This week's discovery has the potential to resolve this awful dilemma by simply making the entire question redundant. As Mackay-Sim said: "We can get the cells from the nose of anybody easily enough, it's minimally invasive and they grow readily.

"We need only a few square millimetres of olfactory tissue. We have spent a long time working out how to grow them, but now that we know it's relatively simple. We can grow millions of cells in just a few weeks.

"In the lab dish, it looks like we can use them to develop liver tissue, heart tissue, muscles, brain. We have to show now, using hard science, that they are functional. So that if you make heart tissue and put it into a diseased heart, that it will be functional."

The use of nerve cells from the nose as a source of stem cells has another advantage, Mackay-Sim said. Tissue grown from embryonic stem cells often is rejected by the immune system of the patient into whom it is transplanted. But if cells from the patient's own nose can be used to manufacture the tissue for the same patient, it should avert that problem altogether.""

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1329094.htm

Wonder if the Chinese are still doing the organ transplants from death row inmates?

My own grand-daughter had an umbilical cell "bone marrow transplant" at the age of 15 months at Fort Worth Cook's Children's Hospital.

Texas should lead in *Ethical* medical research.

Here's another by Janek, a Republican Senator who's a Doctor. It's another bill to set up a Research instititute, and has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

At least the bonds are limited to $41 Million, in this case - but there's no limit on the type of stem cell research, the UT board would control where the money is spent rather than a State or citizen's committee, and it authorizes the UT system to move money all around to fund the research:

By: Janek S.B. No. 1041
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds by The
University of Texas System for an adult stem cell research center at
the Texas Medical Center.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 55, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 55.1752 to read as follows:
Sec. 55.1752. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM; ADDITIONAL
BONDS. (a) In addition to the other authority granted by this
subchapter, the board of regents of The University of Texas System
may acquire, purchase, construct, improve, renovate, enlarge, or
equip property, buildings, structures, facilities, roads, or
related infrastructure for The University of Texas Health Science
Center at Houston to establish an adult stem cell research center at
the Texas Medical Center to conduct stem cell and related
biomedical research in collaboration with other participating
institutions and entities, to be financed by the issuance of bonds
in accordance with this subchapter, including bonds issued in
accordance with a systemwide revenue financing program and secured
as provided by that program in an aggregate principal amount not to
exceed $41.1 million.
(b) The board may pledge irrevocably to the payment of the
bonds authorized by this section all or any part of the revenue
funds of an institution, branch, or entity of The University of
Texas System, including student tuition charges. The amount of a
pledge made under this subsection may not be reduced or abrogated
while the bonds for which the pledge is made, or bonds issued to
refund those bonds, are outstanding.
(c) If sufficient funds are not available to the board to
meet its obligations under this section, the board may transfer
funds among institutions, branches, and entities of The University
of Texas System to ensure the most equitable and efficient
allocation of available resources for each institution, branch, or
entity to carry out its duties and purposes.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.

The intent for the future is to be able to regenerate or heal the body "in situ" or in place.

In the meantime, a lot of scientists want funding for their labs, and they see nothing wrong with using human research subjects anyway they want.

Some plan to have a lab full of embryos and embryonic cells derived from destroyed embryos, in order to test drugs. New human guinea pigs. For a while, they were calling these facilities "greenhouses" and "farms."

But, as the Australian scientists have shown, as well as a group at McGill University in Montreal Canada, non-embryonic cells from the bone marrow and the nasal mucosa are much more "plastic" or usable than first thought. These scientists are doing research that does not rely on the destruction of any human subjects, and that by-passes the concerns of rejection that will be present, even with cloning of embryos using the patient's own nuclear cells and a donor egg or oocyte. The cloned embryos contain some foreign DNA from the egg, and there is some worry about tissue rejection.

The implantation of embryonic and fetal cells from aborted babies has been tried for over 20 years. The patients who under go these surgeries have the horrible chance of growing tumors from the embryonic cells - in their brains. Not cool.

The hearings this week did not go as well as I would like. Beverly Woolley sat up front with the House State Committee during the testimony for her bill - joking and carrying on with Rep's Wong and Villareal all evening. This was distracting and perhaps intimidating to anyone who has a bill they would like to get out of the Calendars Committee.

Over and over I heard that an embryo is not alive or that human embryos are not human. Both statements are false.

The worst behavior was one Dem's insistence on grilling speakers about their faith. As though having an opinion that humans shouldn't kill humans or that the right of parents to protect their daughters is strictly religious and couldn't be held by anyone without faith --- or that those who do have faith should shut up and stay home.

I keep seeing examples of splitting on the pro-life side, while the pro-cloning and pro-abortion rarely disagree with one another.

The pro-cloning and pro-abortion forces outnumbered us and the House State Affairs Committee is dominated by their representation - there are only 2 members that I think we can count on to protect human rights.

The Committee members are stalling and seem to only grill the pro-life and pro-human-rights testimony.

Please help me keep this near the top and please call your Reps and Senators. We also need to get these bills and the Parental Consent legislation heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee. They are not even posted on the Agenda, yet.

I need help in the San Antonio and Houston area. Some of the Representatives from these areas are the most obstructive.

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