R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-16.4-1
Whereas, recent medical and technological advances have had tremendous benefit to patients, and society as a whole, and biomedical research for the purpose of scientific investigation of disease or cure of a disease or illness should be preserved and protected and not be impeded by regulations involving the cloning of an entire human being; and
Whereas, molecular biology, involving human cells, genes, tissues, and organs, has been used to meet medical needs globally for more than thirty (30) years, and has proved a powerful tool in the search for cures, leading to effective medicines to treat cystic fibrosis, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, hemophilia, and HIV/AIDS;
The purpose of this legislation is to place a ban on the creation of a human being through division of a blastocyst, zygote, or embryo or somatic cell nuclear transfer, and to protect the citizens of the state from potential abuse deriving from cloning technologies. This ban is not intended to apply to the cloning of human cells, genes, tissues, or organs that would not result in the replication of an entire human being. Nor is this ban intended to apply to in vitro fertilization, the administration of fertility enhancing drugs, or other medical procedures used to assist a woman in becoming or remaining pregnant, so long as that procedure is not specifically intended to result in the gestation or birth of a child who is genetically identical to another conceptus, embryo, fetus, or human being, living or dead.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-16.4-1