Veto Campaign Launched on California Pay-For-Eggs Bill

Opponents of the California
pay-for-eggs bill have kicked off a campaign to urge Gov. Jerry Brown to veto the industry-backed legislation.

The Center for Genetics and Society of
Berkeley yesterday posted a pitch on its website urging readers to
contact the governor's office by email, fax, phone or letter. The
target is a bill that would remove the ban in California on paying
women for their eggs for stem cell and other scientific research.
Women can already be paid for their eggs for fertility purposes.

Diane Tober, associate executive
director of the center, wrote,

Also making the same pitch is the
Alliance for Humane Biology, another San Francisco Bay area
organization.

The bill, AB926 by Assemblywoman Susan
Bonilla, D-Concord, has literally been cloaked in motherhood/reproductive issues. The measure has easily swept through the legislature and is now on its
way to the governor. The bill is sponsored by the AssociationFew if any stem cell or other research
organizations have been heard from during hearings on the bill. (For
more information, see here, here and here.)

However, stem cell scientists have
complained in past years about the lack of eggs for research,
declaring that women want to be paid.

The measure would not affect the ban on
compensation for eggs in research funded by the $3 billion California
stem cell agency. However, the agency on July 24 will consider providing exceptions for stem cell lines derived from eggs that
involve compensation for women.