Senate Bill No. 426
(By Senator McKenzie)
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[Introduced
February 3, 2004; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto
a new section, designated §61-10-32, 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
the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new
section, designated §61-10-32, 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.