By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, March 22
Republican supporters of legislation that would define future debates about cloning and stem cell research said the issue continued to be a top priority for the remainder of the session.
Reps. Brenda Landwehr, R-Wichita, and Lance Kinzer, R-Olathe, sponsored a briefing on stem cell research on Thursday. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, spoke at the briefing and presented a short video.
House Bill 2098 was moved this week from the Federal and State Affairs Committee to the House calendar, an action from the Committee of the Whole.
It”s not scheduled for debate this week, said Sherriene Jones-Sontag, spokeswoman for House Speaker Melvin Neufeld.
But Landwehr and Kinzer remained optimistic that the bill would make it to the floor for debate.
“Nothing”s over until it”s over,” Landwehr said.
The bill defines terms related to stem cell and cloning research, including “embryo,” “blastocyst” and others. The definitions are needed for future discussions, proponents say.
“If we get the right definitions, and we get the right scientific evidence, then we”ll get the right public policy,” said Archbishop Naumann.
Opponents of the bill have said the definitions used in HB 2098 were too narrow, and are not those commonly used by the National Institute of Health and the National Academies of Sciences. Definitions in the bill are taken from the President”s Council on Bioethics, Human Cloning and Human Dignity, which is made up of scientists, ethicists, and others.
Stem cell research that didn”t involve embryos, but used adult stem cells, or stem cells from babies” umbilical cords, had shown promise and success, Landwehr said, noting that she and other supporters of the legislation disagree with cloning and research that would destroy embryos.
“The church is all about healing, and we have a long tradition of that,” Naumann said. “We”re also trying to find ways for healing and help, and we believe that science has great opportunities and possibilities. But we can not be moved by this passion to help those who are sick cross those boundaries that violate the dignity of the human person.”
House bills 2098 and 2255, which sought to ban taxpayer money from cloning research, were debated in the House Health and Human Services Committee this year. Both bills were moved to the exempt Federal and State Affairs Committee at turnaround; 2255 remains in that committee.
There”s no word on when 2098 might reach the calendar, Jones-Sontag said; House leaders won”t set the schedule for next week until Friday afternoon.
-Sarah Green is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. She can be reached at
sgreen@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 118.