093_HB3589

 
                                     LRB093 02055 AMC 02056 b

 1        AN ACT concerning stem cell research.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  1.  Short  title.  This  Act may be cited as the
 5    Stem Cell Research Act.

 6        Section 5.  Declaration of findings. The General Assembly
 7    finds and declares all of the following:
 8             (1)  An estimated 128 million Americans suffer  from
 9        the   crippling  economic  and  psychological  burden  of
10        chronic,  degenerative,  and  acute  diseases,  including
11        diabetes, Parkinson's disease,  cancer,  and  Alzheimer's
12        disease.
13             (2)  The costs of treatment and lost productivity of
14        chronic,  degenerative,  and acute diseases in the United
15        States constitutes hundreds of billions of dollars  every
16        year.  Estimates  of the economic costs of these diseases
17        do not account for the extreme human loss  and  suffering
18        associated with these conditions.
19             (3)  Stem  cell  research offers immense promise for
20        developing new medical therapies for  these  debilitating
21        diseases  and  a  critical  means  to explore fundamental
22        questions of biology. Stem cell research  could  lead  to
23        unprecedented   treatments   and   potential   cures  for
24        diabetes,  Alzheimer's   disease,   cancer,   and   other
25        diseases.
26             (4)  The United States has historically been a haven
27        for open scientific inquiry and technological innovation,
28        and  this  environment,  coupled  with  the commitment of
29        public and private resources, has made the United  States
30        the   preeminent   world   leader   in   biomedicine  and
31        biotechnology.
 
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 1             (5)  Open scientific  inquiry  and  publicly  funded
 2        research  will  be  essential to realizing the promise of
 3        stem cell research and to maintaining the United  States'
 4        worldwide  leadership  in  biomedicine and biotechnology.
 5        Publicly  funded  stem  cell  research,  conducted  under
 6        established standards of open scientific  exchange,  peer
 7        review,  and  public oversight, offers the most efficient
 8        and responsible means of fulfilling the promise  of  stem
 9        cells to provide regenerative medical therapies.
10             (6)  Stem   cell  research,  including  the  use  of
11        embryonic  stem  cells  for  medical   research,   raises
12        significant  ethical  and policy concerns, and, while not
13        unique, the ethical and policy concerns  associated  with
14        stem cell research must be carefully considered.
15             (7)  Public   policy  on  stem  cell  research  must
16        balance ethical and medical  considerations.  The  policy
17        must   be  based  on  an  understanding  of  the  science
18        associated with stem cell  research  and  grounded  on  a
19        thorough  consideration of the ethical concerns regarding
20        this research. Public policy on stem cell  research  must
21        be  carefully crafted to ensure that researchers have the
22        tools necessary to  fulfill  the  promise  of  stem  cell
23        research.

24        Section  10.  Policy  permitting  research. The policy of
25    the State of Illinois shall be as follows:
26             (1)  That research involving the derivation and  use
27        of  human  embryonic  stem  cells,  human  embryonic germ
28        cells, and  human  adult  stem  cells  from  any  source,
29        including  somatic cell nuclear transplantation, shall be
30        permitted and that the ethical and  medical  implications
31        of this research shall be given full consideration.
32             (2)  That  research involving the derivation and use
33        of human  embryonic  stem  cells,  human  embryonic  germ
 
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 1        cells, and human adult stem cells, including somatic cell
 2        nuclear transplantation, shall be reviewed by an approved
 3        institutional   review   board,   as  determined  by  the
 4        Department of Public Health.

 5        Section 15.  Information requirement.
 6        (a)  An individual receiving  fertility  treatment  shall
 7    have  the  option  to  choose  among  the  available means of
 8    disposing  of  any  human  embryos  remaining  following  the
 9    fertility treatment. These  means  may  include  storing  the
10    unused   embryos,   donating   unused   embryos   to  another
11    individual, discarding the embryos, or donating the remaining
12    embryos for research.
13        (b)  An individual who elects to donate embryos remaining
14    after fertility treatments for research shall provide written
15    consent.

16        Section 20.  Purchase or sale prohibited.
17        (a)  A   person   may   not   knowingly,   for   valuable
18    consideration, purchase or sell embryonic or cadaveric  fetal
19    tissue for research purposes.
20        (b)  For  the  purposes  of  this  Section, the giving or
21    receiving of reasonable payment for the removal,  processing,
22    disposal,    preservation,    quality    control,    storage,
23    transplantation,  or  implantation  of  the  tissue  does not
24    constitute purchase or sale. This Section does  not  prohibit
25    reimbursement  for  removal,  storage,  or  transportation of
26    embryonic or cadaveric fetal  tissue  for  research  purposes
27    pursuant to this Act.
28        (c)  A  person who knowingly purchases or sells embryonic
29    or cadaveric fetal tissue for research purposes in  violation
30    of  subsection  (a)  of  this  Section is guilty of a Class A
31    misdemeanor for the first conviction and a Class 4 felony for
32    subsequent convictions.
 
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 1        (d)  Embryonic or cadaveric fetal tissue may  be  donated
 2    for research purposes pursuant to this Act.

 3        Section 25.  Liability.
 4        (a)  Except   as  provided  in  subsection  (b)  of  this
 5    Section,   procuring,   furnishing,   donating,   processing,
 6    distributing, or using embryonic or  cadaveric  fetal  tissue
 7    for  research  purposes  pursuant to this Act is declared for
 8    the purposes of liability in  tort  or  contract  to  be  the
 9    rendition  of a service by every person, firm, or corporation
10    participating therein, whether or not remuneration  is  paid,
11    and  is  declared  not  to be a sale of any such items and no
12    warranties  of  any  kind  or  description  nor  strict  tort
13    liability shall be applicable thereto.
14        (b)  A person,  firm,  or  corporation  involved  in  the
15    rendition  of  a  service described in subsection (a) of this
16    Section  warrants  to  the  person,  firm,   or   corporation
17    receiving  the  service that he or she has exercised due care
18    and followed professional standards of care in providing  the
19    service according to the current state of the medical arts.