California ProLife Council News 

RAPE VICTIMS DON'T ALWAYS WANT ABORTIONS, WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION SAYS
Springfield, IL -- An organization for women who become pregnant after becoming victims of sexual assault says that raped women don't always want abortions and challenged abortion advocates for making it appear that way. The group says that abortion creates more problems for women pregnant by rape than it solves. The members of the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant by Sexual Assault (WPSA) want to insert their voice into the abortion debate. In an attempt to do so, they have written a petition to Congress and state legislatures asking for hearings on their experiences. They want women who've become pregnant through sexual assault to be allowed to share their stories and address the real concerns that they have faced. Source: Life News, September 7, 2006

ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH PROVIDES HELP FOR CHILDREN WITH BRAIN TUMORS
Memphis, TN -- The use of adult stem cells continues to outpace embryonic stem cell research as scientists report they have come up with a new treatment for children with brain tumors called medulloblastomas. Children with the high-risk tumors have a low 30-40 percent chance of surviving and living to the age of 5 and chemotherapy can take as long as a year. But, Dr. Amar Gajjar of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis says using a patient's own stem cells is having an amazing effect in treating the cancer. "Not only can we now cure about 70 percent of children with high-risk medulloblastoma, we can also cure more than 80 percent of those with standard-risk disease with a shorter, and therefore more convenient, chemotherapy approach," he says. Source: Life News, September 7, 2006

SENATE HOLDS HEARING ON SUPPOSED EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH ALTERNATIVE
Washington, DC-- A Senate committee held a hearing on a new technique a biotech firm claims can get embryonic stem cells without harming the embryo. Senators rebuked the head of the Advanced Cell Technology team who made the claim, which was later modified as all of the human embryos died. Last month, ACT published a paper in the journal Nature claiming to have used the single-cell biopsy technique called Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) to obtain stem cells from 16 human embryos without killing them. However, further examination shows all 16 of the days-old unborn children died in the process and Nature eventually changed its own press release twice that touted the study. Source: Life News, September 6, 2006

BATTLE AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY OVER PRO-LIFE PROFESSOR'S TENURE CONTINUES
Waco, TX -- A battle a Baylor University over why a highly regarded pro-life professor has been denied tenure continues to rage. In March, Dr. Frank Beckwith, an associate professor of church-state studies, was denied tenure despite a long list of prominent publications, awards and honors. The battle was seen by many as a struggle between conservatives and liberals at the Baptist University, which some say is angling to become the Protestant version of Notre Dame but whisking away the denominations pro-life values to do so. Beckwith now says that the former chairman of his department, who has resigned under controversy, led a campaign to prevent his tenure. Source: Life News, September 7, 2006