On Wednesday, the Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee discussed HB380, legislation introduced by state Rep. Phillip Rigsby, R-District 25, to ban human cloning in the state.
“It is one of these bills that we start scratching our head and say, ‘do we really need to start talking about this?'” Rigsby explained to the committee. “The unfortunate thing is science fiction is now real.”
“My reasoning behind this is to protect human dignity, and human individualism, and to prevent life from becoming a commodity,” Rigsby added.
Rigsby explained that the bill has been amended since its introduction to permit the cloning of individual organs for medical purposes and only outlaws the cloning of a “fully developed human.” HB380 also clarifies that in vitro fertilization, IVF, does not qualify as human cloning.
“We don’t want to stop science, but we want to put some guardrails around it, and that’s all this is hopefully to accomplish,” he told the committee.
Sen. Chris Elliott, R-District 32, said that he was “generally supportive” of the bill, but said he was worried about some of the bill’s definitions and the unintended consequences the legislation may have.
Sen. April Weaver, R-District 14, echoed Elliott’s concerns, warning of a “slippery slope” and raising questions about how the bill’s definitions may conflict with other definitions previously approved by the state legislature. Weaver indicated that she felt the bill’s clause exempting IVF from its provisions might not serve as adequate protection.
Heeding Elliott and Weaver’s comments, the committee elected to carry the legislation over for further discussion and will potentially vote on the bill at a later date.
