H. B. 3144
(By Delegate Leggett, (By Request))
[Introduced March 22, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §61-10-32, relating
to the "Human Cloning Prohibition Act;" providing definitions;
and prescribing criminal penalties for violations of the
section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-10-32, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 10. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC POLICY.
§61-10-32. Human Cloning Prohibition Act; definitions.
(a) This section shall be known and cited as the "Human
Cloning Act."
(b) The following words and phrases shall have the meanings
ascribed herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Human cloning" means human asexual reproduction
accomplished by introducing the nuclear material of a human somatic
cell into a fertilized or unfertilized oocyte whose nucleus has
been removed or inactivated to produce a living organism (at any
stage of development) with a human or predominantly human genetic
constitution;
(2) "Human somatic cell" means a diploid cell (having a
complete set of chromosomes) obtained or derived from a living or
deceased human body at any stage of development;
(3) "Nuclear transplantation" means transferring the nucleus
of a human somatic cell into an oocyte from which the nucleus or
all chromosomes have been or will be removed or rendered inert;
(4) "Nucleus" means the cell structure that houses the
chromosomes and thus the genes; and
(5) "Oocyte" means the female germ cell, the egg.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person or entity, public or
private, to:
(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; and
(4) Transfer or receive, in whole or in part, any oocyte,
embryo, fetus or human somatic cell for the purpose of human
cloning.
(d) Nothing in this section shall restrict areas of scientific research not specifically prohibited by this section, including
research in the use of nuclear transfer or other cloning techniques
to produce molecules, DNA, cells other than human embryos, tissues,
organs, plants or animals other than humans.
(e) (1) Any person or entity that knowingly or recklessly
violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a felony
and upon conviction shall be fined not more than five thousand
dollars or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not more
than five year, or both, and shall forfeit any licenses issued by
the state, medical legal or otherwise.
(2) Any person or entity that violates any provision of this
section and derives a pecuniary gain from such violation shall be
fined one million dollars or twice the amount of gross gain, or any
amount intermediate between the foregoing at the discretion of the
court.
(f) If any provision of this section or the application
thereof to any person or circumstance is found to be
unconstitutional, the same is hereby declared to be severable and
the balance of this section shall remain effective notwithstanding
such unconstitutionality. The Legislature hereby declares that it
would have passed this section and each provision thereof,
irrespective of the fact that any provision may be declared
unconstitutional.
(g) This section shall take effect and be in force from and after the first day of July, two thousand five.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit cloning of
human beings.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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