Gov. Ted Strickland does not support a disputed bill in the Senate to prohibit human cloning but is willing to talk with legislators in search of a reasonable compromise, a spokesman for the governor said Friday.

Pending before the Senate Judiciary-Civil Justice Committee is a proposal (SB 174) that opponents contend would make therapeutic stem cell research illegal in the state.

Advocates of the cloning ban, meanwhile, argue that changes medical researchers want to make in the measure would "permit experimentation on little human persons called embryos."

Keith Dailey, Gov. Strickland's press secretary, said the administration believes the legislation would significantly limit, if not outright ban, stem cell research in Ohio.

"The governor is not supportive because a severe limitation on stem cell research will prohibit research that could save countless lives through the study of cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes among other illnesses," Mr. Dailey said in an interview.

"And because he believes it would be detrimental to Ohio's economic future as well," he said. A $1.5 billion jobs stimulus package that Gov. Strickland and legislative leaders have proposed includes $100 million to be spent on biomedical-related projects.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) delivered a statement to the committee last week that said the bill in its current form would in essence halt all future biomedical research in the state using somatic cell nuclear transfer technologies.

It also would make it illegal for Ohioans to receive treatments derived from such research, regardless of where the treatment was performed.

PhRMA said that if the General Assembly determines it must enact a ban on the cloning of entire humans beings, the legislation must:

• Prohibit the act of reproductive cloning, defined as asexual reproduction of a human being that has been created by somatic cell nuclear transfer or by other asexual means and gestated in a uterus or uterine-like environment, with the purpose of creating a human fetus or child.
  

• Specifically state that the prohibition does not apply to biomedical research that does not involve cloning an entire human.
  

• Establish civil monetary penalties, rather than criminal, as an enforcement mechanism.
  

• Prohibit private lawsuits, protecting biomedical researchers from civil complaints that opposition groups might file.
  

The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform voiced support for the bill in testimony late last month, urging the committee to approve the pending substitute version without amendments.

Mark Harrington, executive director of CBR Midwest, said university researchers and others were trying to turn the legislation into what he characterized as a "clone to kill" bill.

"This means creating human life for the expressed purpose of killing it for some unforeseen and currently unrealized benefit," Mr. Harrington said at the time.

The civil justice committee is not scheduled to take testimony on the bill this week. Stakeholders have been invited to meet with members individually to continue discussion