A bill prohibiting human cloning in Wisconsin is closer to becoming law.
The state Assembly passed a bill Thursday afternoon that would ban cloning to create babies. The measure also would outlaw so-called therapeutic cloning, which can involve manufacturing embryos to get their stem cells.
While little if any therapeutic cloning is underway in Wisconsin, the bill's opponents say it makes no sense to ban a promising area of research that could cure genetic diseases.
The Republican-authored bill would punish violators with up to ten years in prison and $1 million in fines.
The measure now goes to the state Senate. That body must pass it
and Democratic Governor Jim Doyle must sign it before it can become
law. Doyle says he won't support the bill.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
