Legislators pass adult stem cell, anti-pornography bills
By Brigid Curtis Ayer
Property tax reform was not the only accomplishment made during the 116th session of the Indiana General Assembly.
Two proposals supported by the Indiana Catholic Conference—a proposal to encourage adult stem-cell research and another to limit pornography in Indiana—will soon become law.
Increasing access to an ethical source of adult stem cells through the creation of a public umbilical cord blood bank was the goal of legislation authored by Rep. Peggy Welch (D-Bloomington), which passed the Indiana General Assembly on March 13.
The proposal requires the state’s Family and Social Service Administration agency to 1) create a governmental nonprofit corporation to establish and operate an umbilical cord blood bank; 2) establish an umbilical cord blood donation initiative; and 3) promote public awareness concerning the medical benefits of umbilical cord blood.
The two most common sources of stem cells are embryonic and adult stem cells, but a lesser known source comes from postnatal tissue which is discarded after the birth of a child. The postnatal tissue includes the umbilical cord, the cord blood, the placenta and the amniotic fluid.
Stem cells also can be taken from adult tissues and organs, such as bone marrow, fat from liposuction, regions of the nose and even cadavers up to 20 hours after death.
Rep. Welch explained that people would donate cord blood to a public cord blood bank the same way people currently donate blood.
“When a person donates blood, they do so in order that someone else may benefit from it. That would be the same motivation for donating to a public cord blood bank,” Rep. Welch said. “The priority of the cord blood bank would be for transplants. The secondary purpose would be for research.”
Dr. Scott Goebel, who is a stem cell transplant doctor responsible for cord blood transplants at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, said, “We have children and adults in Indiana as well as around the country who die each year from the lack of a suitable hematopoientic stem cell [marrow or cord blood] donor, which is both regrettable and correctable with more cord blood banking.”
Only two out of 10 cord blood donations are of transplantable quality. The other eight would have research value.
“What is exciting about this legislation is [that] Indiana will be receiving hundreds of thousands of umbilical cord blood units with postnatal tissue for transplants and research,” Rep. Welch said.
“The goal is that we will increase the number of transplantable stem cells, help save lives of cancer patients, provide more research quality stem cells, and improve the quality of life for Hoosiers, both physically and financially,” she added.
Rep. Welch anticipates a public blood bank will bring more researchers and a significant amount of research dollars to Indiana, further helping the state’s economy. She said it is estimated that the public cord bank would be self-supporting in two to three years from its inception.
Private and public umbilical cord blood banks have proven invaluable to the medical community. Many blood and immune diseases have been successfully treated using cord blood. Doctors use cord blood cells to treat about 70 diseases, mostly anemias or cancers of the blood, such as leukemias and lymphomas.
An anti-pornography proposal authored by Rep. Terry Goodin (D-Crothersville) also passed the Indiana General Assembly.
A store which opened in Rep. Goodin’s district gave residents the impression it would be selling books, movies and snacks. But when the store opened, it was selling sexually graphic materials.
“Had the residents been notified, they could have petitioned to keep the retailer out,” he said.
Rep. Goodin’s bill was not only a response to this incidence, but also is designed to create stronger, more consistent pornography regulation statewide.
The anti-pornography legislation requires that a person or business intending to sell sexually explicit materials, products or services must register with the Secretary of State. The bill imposes a $250 filing fee and requires the Secretary of State to notify certain local officials in the county where the new business will be located.
A person that offers for sale or sells sexually explicit materials without registering and filing the statement of intent commits a Class B misdemeanor, which can result in up to 180 days in jail or a $1,000 fine. The bill will apply to businesses established after June 30, 2008, or any existing business that moves to a new location. It is not retroactive to existing businesses that remain in the same location.
(Brigid Curtis Ayer is a correspondent for The Criterion.) †