Illinois 2025-2026 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HR0250 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
4	4	2 WHEREAS, Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman, was born as
5	5	3 Loretta Pleasant to Eliza Lacks Pleasant and John Randal in
6	6	4 Roanoke, Virginia on August 1, 1920; she married David Lacks,
7	7	5 and they had five children; she passed away from cervical
8	8	6 cancer at the age of 31 in Johns Hopkins Hospital's racially
9	9	7 segregated "colored ward" in Baltimore, Maryland on October 4,
10	10	8 1951, leaving behind her children, husband, and her "immortal
11	11	9 cells", known as HeLa cells, that became the foundation for
12	12	10 several advances in modern medicine and have saved over 10
13	13	11 million lives; she was buried at the Lacks Family Cemetery in
14	14	12 Clover, Virginia; and
15	15	13 WHEREAS, After her death, a scientist discovered that
16	16	14 Henrietta Lacks' DNA cells lived outside of her body and never
17	17	15 died; in contrast, all other human cells died after a few hours
18	18	16 outside the body; not only did her cells stay alive in the lab,
19	19	17 but the cells also replicated every 24 hours; during her
20	20	18 treatment, samples of her cancer cells were taken without her
21	21	19 knowledge nor her consent; said more emphatically, she did not
22	22	20 donate her cervical cancer cells; and
23	23	21 WHEREAS, Henrietta Lacks' immortal DNA cells were coined
24	24	22 "HeLa", combining the first two letters of her first name and
25	25	23 the first two letters of her last name, and were subsequently
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34	34	1 camouflaged by the scientific community's pseudonym "Helen
35	35	2 Lane" rather than Henrietta Lacks; this massive medical
36	36	3 breakthrough allowed researchers to conduct experiments on
37	37	4 human cells outside of the body, and HeLa cells have played a
38	38	5 crucial role in medical science; and
39	39	6 WHEREAS, Scientists have continued to use the immortal
40	40	7 HeLa cell line all over the world, including in research on the
41	41	8 effects of zero gravity in outer space, the development of
42	42	9 polio and COVID-19 vaccines, and the study of molecular
43	43	10 biology, HIV/AIDS, cloning, COVID-19, in vitro fertilization
44	44	11 (IVF), and cancer, including leukemia chemotherapy; and
45	45	12 WHEREAS, For decades, Henrietta Lacks' family had no
46	46	13 knowledge regarding her immortal DNA cells and the
47	47	14 breakthroughs that came from them; it was not until a
48	48	15 scientist contacted her children asking for blood samples in
49	49	16 1973 that the family learned their mother's cells were being
50	50	17 used globally; and
51	51	18 WHEREAS, Alfred "Lacks" Carter Jr., the son of Deborah
52	52	19 Lacks and the grandson of Henrietta Lacks, is the founder and
53	53	20 president of the HeLa House, located in Chicago, and the
54	54	21 Henrietta House of Healing; he is a senior advisor to the Lacks
55	55	22 family, leads the HELA100 initiative, and is a World Health
56	56	23 Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Cervical Cancer
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67	67	1 Elimination; the 2019 Henrietta Lacks Enhancing Cancer
68	68	2 Research Act and House of Appropriation Report 116-450 not
69	69	3 only honor the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks but each also
70	70	4 includes a provision for a Government Accountability Office
71	71	5 (GAO) study about the diverse representation of patients in
72	72	6 cancer clinical trials; and
73	73	7 WHEREAS, Alfred "Lacks" Carter Jr. is committed to
74	74	8 generously giving his time and talents to preserving Henrietta
75	75	9 Lacks' legacy; he hopes to empower and educate others about
76	76	10 his grandmother and her medical contributions, and he endorses
77	77	11 and promotes clinical research and the impact it has on health
78	78	12 and racial disparities; therefore, be it
79	79	13 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
80	80	14 HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
81	81	15 we honor the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks, an African
82	82	16 American woman, whose contributions to medical science have
83	83	17 had a lasting impact though her name is not widely known; and
84	84	18 be it further
85	85	19 RESOLVED, That we recognize Alfred "Lacks" Carter Jr. for
86	86	20 his work to preserve Henrietta Lacks' legacy and for his
87	87	21 contributions in the fight against cervical cancer; and be it
88	88	22 further
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99	99	1 RESOLVED, That we urge support for community-based
100	100	2 research and education programs, which are vital to educating
101	101	3 and empowering community members so they can make informed
102	102	4 decisions about being involved in clinical research and the
103	103	5 research process; and be it further
104	104	6 RESOLVED, That we urge support for clinical research to
105	105	7 reduce health disparities, to save lives, to gain insights
106	106	8 about the safety and effectiveness of drugs and other medical
107	107	9 treatments, and to discover treatments for various diseases.
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