Bill focuses on umbilical cord blood donations

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By The Associated Press

State lawmakers could consider a bill requiring hospitals and doctors to tell women they can donate umbilical cord blood.

The stem cells in cord blood have the potential to save lives. They’re the same stem cells that make up the bone-marrow transplants that help many people survive certain cancers and other diseases.

But cord blood is more easily transplanted into unrelated people and can be thawed at a moment’s notice, giving it advantages over bone marrow.

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The cells are not embryonic stem cells.

Under the bill (LB951) introduced by Senator Gail Kopplin of Gretna, parents could decide whether to store the blood in a private bank for their child’s own use or donate the blood to a public bank.