SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 13

         A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION,  Urging the United States Congress to pass, and the President of the United States to sign, legislation that completely bans human cloning.

     WHEREAS,  South Dakota Codified Law defines the human embryo as a living organism of the species Homo sapien at the earliest stages of development (including the single-celled stage), and human cloning creates a human being at the embryonic stage of life and grows this new human being solely to be exploited ("reproductive" cloning) or destroyed (so called "therapeutic" cloning) through nontherapeutic research and experimentation; and

     WHEREAS,  South Dakota Codified Law defines nontherapeutic research as research that is not intended to help preserve the life and health of the particular embryo subjected to risk and bans nontherapeutic research that destroys a human embryo or subjects a human embryo to substantial risk of injury or death, bans the sale or transfer of a human embryo for such research, and bans for research purposes the use of cells or tissues obtained from an embryo through nontherapeutic research; and

     WHEREAS,  human cloning is a manufacturing process in which a human being is created in a laboratory; human cloning indicates a utilitarian view in which a human being is created merely for usefulness with no respect for the dignity of that human being; and human cloning creates a human being who is the twin of a parent, has no other biological parent, and is the child of the grandparents thereby causing serious moral, social, and legal issues; and

     WHEREAS,  current human cloning attempts pose a substantial risk of producing human beings with unpredictable but potentially devastating health problems; and

     WHEREAS,  such human cloning attempts are grossly irresponsible and unethical; and

     WHEREAS,  the United States House of Representatives has passed the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001, a complete human cloning ban; and the President of the United States has called for a complete human cloning ban; and

     WHEREAS,  a complete human cloning ban is achieved by the passage of the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001 as introduced in the United States Senate by Senator Brownback (S. 1899) and is not achieved by the passage of other human cloning prohibition acts that allow the creation of human embryos by cloning so long as they are killed for research:

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     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,  by the Senate of the Seventy-seventh Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the House of Representatives concurring therein, that the United States House of Representatives is strongly urged to continue its support of a complete human cloning ban, that the United States Senate is strongly urged to pass the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2001, as introduced in the Senate by Senator Brownback, and that the President of the United States is strongly urged to sign a complete human cloning ban.

Adopted by the Senate,

Concurred in by the House of Representatives,

Carole Hillard President of the Senate	Patricia Adam Secretary of the Senate
Scott Eccarius Speaker of the House	Karen Gerdes Chief Clerk of the House