Romney Pushes Changes to Bill

In the latest development of the ongoing legislative stem cell battle on Beacon Hill, Mass. Governor W. Mitt Romney has decided to make one last effort in attempting to push his anti-cloning agenda.

Instead of vetoing the compromise bill outright, as many had expected, Romney decided to return the bill to the legislature with four proposed amendments.

Two weeks ago, the House voted 119-38 to approve the compromise bill, which was met with an overwhelming 34-2 vote of approval in the Senate. This is more than the requisite two-thirds of the legislature needed to veto the governor’s expected veto.

The finalized version of the bill, which places all institutions conducting stem cell research under the regulatory control of the Department of Public Health, will require internal review boards at each institution to manage and verify the lawfulness of its studies.

Institutions that are at odds with the law would be subject to fines of up to $1 million; individuals, up to 10 years in prison.

In accordance with Romney’s repeated efforts to ban somatic nuclear transfer, two of his amendments state that this cloning process should be banned and that embryos should not be created explicitly for research purposes.

While steadfast in his beliefs against cloning, Romney still supports adult stem cell research and embryonic stem cell research that use discarded embryos from fertility clinics.

Another amendment reflects rising concerns in the possibility that scientists may take advantage of poor women by offering monetary compensation for their eggs.

Supporters of the current legislation say that this issue is already addressed.

“By prohibiting the compensation of women for their donated eggs, our legislation would create a regulation that protects against the exploitation of women,” wrote Rep. Lida E. Harkins, who served on the six-member committee that drafted the finalized version of the compromise bill between the House and the Senate. “In order to prevent abuses of current science, this law would also prohibit individuals from enduring fertility treatments for the sole purpose of donation of genetic materials.”

Nevertheless, Romney’s proposed amendment would state explicitly that women may be only paid for expenses directly associated with egg donation such as medical care or transportation.

Finally, the governor calls into question the decision of the legislature to define the beginning of life as after a fertilized egg implants in the embryo.

“It is very conceivable that scientific advances will allow an embryo to be grown for a substantial period of time outside the uterus,” Romney said in the Boston Globe. “To say that it is not life at one month or two months or four months or full term, just because it had never been in an uterus, would be absurd.”

But lawmakers dismiss Romney’s concern, and predict that the bill will be back on Romney’s desk before long.

“We’ll reject this and send it back to him,” said Rep. Daniel E. Bosley, D-North Adams, chairman of the House Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee, according to the Boston Herald. “I don’t think it will have any traction at all.”

While the battle between the governor and the state legislature continues to wage on Beacon Hill, Harvard scientists have already moved forward in their efforts to step up stem cell research.

Last month, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute awarded its first batch of grants to twelve scientists across the university. Five of them support embryonic stem cell research.

—Staff writer Risheng Xu can be reached at xu4@fas.harvard.edu.