The Kentucky Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday held hearings on a bill (HB 138) that would ban both reproductive and therapeutic cloning, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Scientists from the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville told the committee that the bill would "chase researchers and their promising efforts" out of the state. "If you're going to pass this bill, modify it so it doesn't impact as severely as it does the science in this state," Dr. James Holsinger, chancellor of the University of Kentucky Medical Center, said (Cheves, Lexington Herald-Leader, 3/21). The University of Kentucky alone employs 18 stem cell researchers and has $30 million invested in stem cell work. State Rep. Joe Fischer (R), an abortion-rights opponent and sponsor of the House bill, is concerned that the universities' objections to the bill could hurt its chances in the state Senate. State Sen. Robert Stivers (R) has said that the Senate wants "a compromise that curbs human cloning without preventing valuable medical research," and Katherine Adams, a lawyer for the University of Kentucky, has stated that she hopes the Senate will amend the bill to allow therapeutic cloning to continue (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 3/18). However, supporters of the bill say that scientists can create stem cells without "destroying" human embryos. "There is no valid ethical, scientific or medical grounds to endorse human cloning, which devalues and commercializes human life in general," Tom Smith, a medical ethicist with the Archdiocese of Louisville, said at the hearing. The Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on the bill within the next few days (Lexington Herald-Leader, 3/21).