SENATE RESOLUTION 8604

BySenators Wellman,Cleveland,Lovelett,Das,Dhingra,Frockt, Hasegawa, Muzzall, Nobles, Randall, Robinson, Rolfes, and Stanford

1 WHEREAS,In2013, theEvergreen School DistrictofVancouver, 2 Washington,openedtheHenrietta Lacks Healthand Bioscience High 3 School,becomingthefirstorganization to memorialize herpublicly and honor her legacy; and4 5 WHEREAS,Thestudents ofthis schoolhave calledupon the 6 WashingtonStateLegislatureto acknowledge the contribution of Henrietta Lacks' cells to medical research; and7 8 WHEREAS,Asa Blackwomanwith cervical cancer in1951, Lacks 9 receivedmedicalcareina racially segregated wardofJohns Hopkins 10 HospitalwhereherdoctorGeorge Geytook samples from her biopsied tumor without her consent; and11 12 WHEREAS,Geyusedthese cellsto create the firstimmortal cell 13 line,knownasthe "HeLa" cell line,which has been reproduced in 14 labsallover theworld andused todevelop someofthe most important breakthroughs in medicine; and15 16 WHEREAS,Thesebreakthroughsincludeextensive researchinto the 17 curesforcancer,treatment forHIVand AIDS, Parkinson's disease, 18 theeffects ofradiation, the polio vaccine,gene mapping, and current development of a coronavirus vaccine; and19 20 WHEREAS,Asthe ongoing COVID-19 pandemicbrings devastation 21 aroundtheworldand thework of medical researchers ismore relevant 22 thanever,wemust recognizethe impact Lacks hashadon virology and 23 immunology and the relevance on our lives today; and p. 1 8604 1 WHEREAS, Though there are almost 11,000 patents to date 2 involving use of the HeLa cell line, neither Henrietta nor her 3 family gave consent for their use or received financial compensation; and4 5 WHEREAS, Too often, the role of marginalized people in 6 developing significant advances for humankind are unacknowledged;7 8 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State 9 Legislature recognize the contribution of Henrietta Lacks' cells 10 to modern medicine and the educational, racial, and economic barriers that played a role in her story; and11 12 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, As the COVID-19 vaccine begins to be 13 distributed, let us recognize the debt we owe Henrietta Lacks and her family; and14 15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That Lacks' story is a reminder of 16 the work left to be done in culturally-responsive medicine and education.17

I, Brad Hendrickson, Secretary of the Senate,18 do hereby certify that this is a true and19 correct copy of Senate Resolution 8604,20 adopted by the Senate21 February 2, 202122

BRAD HENDRICKSON23 Secretary of the Senate24

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