Prolife Victories
Adult Stem-Cell Line Licensed
Athersys Inc. licensed the rights from the University of Minnesota, where the stem cell was discovered by Dr. Catherine Verfaillie and colleagues.
The cells come from the bone marrow of adults and are as versatile as stem cells from embryos in their ability to turn into different types of cells in the body. Gil Van Bokkelen, chief executive of Athersys, said that, although the company will hold the patents to the stem cells it has no desire to block others' research and hopes to collaborate and share the returns.
Due Process for the Unborn?
WORLD NET DAILY, Dec. 9 — Georgia legislators will introduce a bill in January that refers to abortion as an “execution” and will require any mother seeking an abortion to go to court to obtain a death warrant.
Once a mother files for a death warrant, a guardian would be appointed to protect the rights of the unborn child. That guardian would be authorized to demand a jury trial in which the rights of the unborn child would be balanced against the rights of the mother seeking to have the “execution” performed.
Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, said, “It's an attempt to restore the 14th Amendment due-process rights of the unborn.”
Girls Petition for Modesty
FOCUS ON THE FAMILY, Dec. 12 — Disgusted with immodest fashions, 18-year-old Amanda Smith and her friends collected 1,500 signatures and presented them to Dillard's department store in Mesa, Ariz., requesting they stock more modest clothes.
Dillard's contacted fashion designer Jody Berman and, with the girls' help, new and more modest fashions are on their way to Arizona.
Berman said, “It's very easy to do a very pretty dress, giving them the fabrics that are in fashion and just giving them a little bit more modesty.”
Dillard's has asked Smith and her friends to be fashion consultants for the store.
Smoking and Infant Deaths
BBC NEWS, Dec. 19 — Scientists may have explained why babies born to smokers are at increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): They have discovered that exposure to tobacco smoke in the womb appears to slow down a baby's arousal response.
Previous research indicated that cigarette smoking by the mother could be implicated in up to 30% of cases of SIDS, but no one understood how it was that smoking increased the risk.
The researchers, from Queensland, Australia, told the BBC they think that tobacco smoke may act to reduce the supply of oxygen to the brain of an unborn child, leading to stunted mental development and, hence, slower reaction times during deep sleep.
