Chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 12CC the following 2 sections:-

            Section 12DD.  The general court finds and declares that:

            (a) human embryonic stem cell research, and other research in regenerative medicine present a significant chance of yielding fundamental biological knowledge from which may emanate therapies to relieve, on a large scale, human suffering from disease and injury; and

            (b) the extraordinary biomedical scientists situated in Massachusetts within institutions of higher education, research institutes, hospitals and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies possess the capability of contributing significantly to the welfare of mankind by performing outstanding research in this field.

            Section 12EE.  (a) For the purposes of this section and section 12DD, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

            “Donated to medicine”, an embryo(s) originating from an in vitro process or human embryonic germ cells, when, for purposes of biomedical research or medical care or treatment, the persons contributing genetic material do so in the absence of financial inducement and after fulfillment of the requirements of applicable federal laws concerning informed consent.

            “Embryo”, includes any human embryo whether formed by fertilization, somatic cell nuclear transfer, parthenogenesis, or other means.

            “Financial inducement”, any valuable consideration, excluding: (i) reimbursement for reasonable costs incurred in connection with a donation; and (ii) reasonable compensation to a donor from whom an oocyte or somatic cell is recovered for the time, burden and risk of such recovery and the preparation for it.  Whether costs or compensation are reasonable shall be determined by a duly appointed Institutional Review Board, provided the determination is made with due diligence and in good faith.

            “In vitro”, a process conducted outside the human body in an artificial environment, such as in vitro fertilization or somatic cell nuclear transfer.

            “Uterus”, a uterus or fallopian tube.

            (b) It shall be the policy of the commonwealth to foster research and therapies in regenerative medicine, including, in particular, that research and clinical applications involving the derivation and use of human embryonic stem cells, human embryonic germ cells, placental and umbilical cord cells and any human adult stem cells, including research and clinical applications involving somatic cell nuclear transplantation, shall be permitted.

            (c)(i) No person shall use an human embryo donated to medicine in scientific research or other kind of experimentation or study without the prior written approval of a duly appointed Institutional Review Board or other duly appointed ethics committee setting forth the approval of the Board or ethics committee for the research, experimentation or study.  The written approval shall contain a detailed description of the research, experimentation or study by attachment of a protocol or other writing and shall be maintained as a permanent record by the Board, ethics committee, or the hospital or other entity for which the Board or ethics committee acts.

            (ii) No person shall knowingly sell any embryo donated to medicine for valuable consideration.  For purposes of this subsection “valuable consideration'' excludes reasonable payments associated with storage, quality control, preservation, processing or transportation of such embryos donated to medicine. 

            (d)An embryo donated to medicine, pursuant to this section, shall not be transferred to a uterus.

            (e)Human reproductive cloning is hereby prohibited.

            (f)A person who violates subsections (d) or (e) shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 5 years, or in a jail or house of correction for not less than 1 year nor more than 2 ½ years or by a fine of not more than $25,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 2. Subsection (a) I of section 12J of said chapter 112, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:- For the purposes of this section,   fetus shall include a neonate and an embryo, but shall exclude an embryo donated to medicine pursuant to section 12EE.

 SECTION 3.Subsection (a) IV of said section 12J of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence.