Massachusetts Lawmakers Reject Stem Cell Ban

Lawmakers Thursday rejected Gov. Mitt Romney's amendments to a stem cell research bill — including a proposed ban on using cloned embryos for the purpose of obtaining stem cells to use in treating disease. Another of the rejected changes would define the beginning of life as the moment of conception; the bill defines it as the moment an embryo is implanted in the womb. The Republican governor — who supports research using adult stem cells or leftover frozen embryos from fertility clinics — wanted to ban scientists from creating a cloned embryo to harvest stem cells to use to create tailor-made genetic cures. The bill allows the practice, known as therapeutic cloning.

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