State Senator Janae Shamp (R-AZ) wants Arizona to catch up with where regenerative medicine is heading. Whether her colleagues agree is another matter.
The former Senate Majority Leader is behind Senate Bill 1214, which cleared the Senate Health & Human Services Committee this week. The legislation would create a formal regulatory framework for stem cell and birth tissue therapies, treatments that have become a necessity for patients with chronic pain and other conditions but currently operate in a medical gray zone in the state.
Physicians offering these therapies would need to meet sourcing requirements, follow informed consent protocols, and comply with nationally recognized accreditation and manufacturing standards.
Shamp says those rules are simply overdue, given how quickly the field has expanded, arguing that patients pursuing these treatments deserve basic assurances about what they're receiving and where it's coming from.
"When Arizona patients pursue innovative therapies, they deserve to know treatments are being delivered safely and responsibly," she said during the committee process.
Shamp has pointed to Arizona's Right to Try law as a foundation for the measure, suggesting the state has already shown interest in expanding patient access to emerging treatments. Her argument is that access and oversight aren't mutually exclusive.
"This legislation puts medical guardrails in place, strengthens transparency, and helps ensure bad actors cannot take advantage of vulnerable people searching for hope," Shamp said.
Medical Experts Weigh In
Medical experts who appeared before the committee spoke at length about how birth tissue used in these therapies is collected, describing a process tied to planned deliveries under controlled clinical conditions.
They added that, from a professional standpoint, their medical procedures are not a political ideology. "We don't use aborted tissue, not from a political point of view, but from a medical point of view," said Dr. Pradeep Albert.
They continued, “There is no country on the planet that uses aborted tissue for regenerative stem cell therapies, like injections into joints, because it can cause tumors and other serious problems."
SB 1214 now moves to the full Senate for debate, even after every Democrat voted against the measure.
“We are promoting access to therapies while making sure patients know they are receiving care that meets recognized medical standards,” Shamp concluded.
