Legislators Toolkit: State Public Policy

Research on stem cells that is not federally funded falls under the regulation of the states in which the research is conducted.

Currently, state laws vary widely in their support and opposition to utilizing and creating blastocysts for the purposes of extracting pluripotent stem cells for research.

There was significant activity in state legislatures across the country in 2004 and 2005 related to the passage of bills that support early human stem cell research, including billions of dollars to support research (See State Support Timeline).

Current and Pending State Policies

Current and Pending Support

A number of states have chosen to proactively attract early human stem cell research efforts. Most of these states have garnered millions, and in some cases billions, of dollars to support research that is not eligible for federal fundsas determined by President Bush’s August 2001 stem cell research policy.

 

Current Restrictions

While many states are making extraordinary efforts to attract early human stem cell research, approximately 14 states currently have restrictions in their state law that prohibit various forms of early human stem cell research. The following map demonstrates the current state policies in place that may limit early stem cell research. Restrictions on early human stem cell research vary from state to state. Some states have specific bans on early human stem cell research derived from in vitro fertilization techniques while others only ban “therapeutic cloning.” Others include language that bans research on “live” or “non-living” embryos, which may be construed to include a ban on early human stem cell research. The below map was created based on the National Conference of State Legislatures’ reports on State Embryonic and Fetal Research Laws and State Human Cloning Laws, which was last updated on July 18, 2005.

For the most current information on state statutes and proposed bills that affect stem cell research, please visit the National Conference of State Legislatures web site.

State Embryonic and Fetal Research Laws:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/genetics/embfet.htm

State Human Cloning Laws:
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/genetics/rt-shcl.htm