Senate Bill No. 514
(By Senators McKenzie, Weeks, Smith and Sprouse)
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[Introduced
February 13, 2003; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article ten, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new
section, designated section thirty-two, relating to crimes against public
policy generally; prohibiting human and embryonic cloning; and prescribing
criminal penalties for violations of the section.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That
article ten, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated section thirty-two, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC POLICY.
§61-10-32. Cloning; penalties.
It
is unlawful for anyone to participate in any activity involving the cloning of
any human being or human embryo.
Any
person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a felony and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than five thousand dollars or
not more than ten thousand dollars, or imprisoned in a
state correctional facility for not less than one nor more than three years or,
in the discretion of the court, by both such fine and imprisonment. Nothing in
this section shall be construed or interpreted to endorse, allow, permit or
approve of any abortion.
NOTE:
The purpose of this bill is to prohibit cloning of human beings and embryos and
to prescribe a criminal penalty for violation of the provisions of the bill.
This
section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.