Letters.

Lawmakers Need to Look Ahead on Cloning Issue

Editor:

I read with interest Alissa Johnson's article on human cloning in the April issue of State Legislatures.

Our legislative attorneys have questioned whether Roe vs. Wade permits a state to interfere in the choice of therapeutic or reproductive use once the zygote (the first cell of a distinct human life) has come into existence. For this reason, I believe it is not practical to ban "reproductive" cloning while permitting "therapeutic" cloning.

I sponsored legislation in 2002 in the Florida House that would have not only prohibited cloning in this state, but also would have established a statutory right to institute lawsuits to recover damages from those engaging in cloning if a resident of this state is injured by the practice.

There are very important reasons to address civil relief for injuries relating from cloning. In my view, state legislatures should not abdicate their policymaking role and merely wait for courts to decide who has parental responsibility for clones. Regardless of the policy decisions we make regarding the practice of human cloning, it will be performed somewhere. When clones are born, they are likely to become residents of American jurisdictions in order to access our superior health care system. Because a clone will not have biological parents, as defined by society, he or she will be born an orphan. Of course, the state is solely responsible for an orphan until a guardianship is established or an adoption occurs...