Pro-Life News: Stem Cell Research, Attack on Pregnant Mom, Ireland 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 16, 2006
Trial of Woman Who Killed Mother for Her Unborn Baby Pushed Backed
Kansas City, KS (LifeNews.com) — The trial of a woman who strangled a mother to death and cut open her stomach to steal her unborn child has been pushed back until April. Lisa Montgomery made national headlines in December 2004 when she allegedly killed Bobbi Jo Stinnett, a 23 year-old woman who was eight months pregnant at the time. Montgomery’s trial is now set for next April after her lawyers argued for more time to prepare. The trial of the 38-year old woman is now set for April 30. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Montgomery. The child, Victoria Jo, now lives with her father. Stinnett apparently met and befriended Montgomery through dog shows and Montgomery told her she wanted to buy a dog. But when Montgomery was at Stinnett’s home she strangled the woman with a rope and used a knife to perform a crude Caesarian section. Before the alleged murder, Montgomery was married and had children of her own. Montgomery’s children saw the newborn baby for the first time when she showed the child off at a store parking lot, just hours after Stinnett was killed.
Australia Health Minister Doesn’t Want Debate on Human Cloning Ban
Canberra, Australia (LifeNews.com) — Australia Health Minister Tony Abbott says the nation’s parliament should not hold a debate on whether to overturn the nation’s laws that prohibit all forms of human cloning. Victoria and Queensland have called for the federal government to reconsider its stance. "We had a very, very long debate on the parliament on this a few years ago," Abbott told the Nine Network. "I don’t see what has changed since then to revisit that decision." "I don’t detect in the federal government and in the federal party room, any great enthusiasm to revisit what was a very well considered, quite exhausting debate," he added. Abbott said Queensland and Victoria were defying other Labor premiers who are opposed to human cloning for research purposes. "They are in a sense defying their state Labor colleagues as well as possibly being out of step with the federal parliament."
California Stem Cell Research Panel Removes Discovery Sharing Rule
Sacramento, CA (LifeNews.com) — The state panel responsible for distributing billions of taxpayer dollars for embryonic stem cell research and human cloning has scrapped a discovery-sharing requirement that biotech firms vigorously opposed. The rule would have forced them to share their patented therapies deriving from any research with other California research institutions. They said it would remove the financial incentives to continue the research. "We do not want to hurt this industry," said Jeff Sheehy, a member of the intellectual property task force of the state’s stem cell agency. "We have a policy that industry has told us will not work for them." Still, the panel decided to require that a share of the royalties be returned to the state and said it could revoke licensing agreements with companies if they don’t make the therapies publicly available in a reasonable time. The new policies, proposed by a committee, now go to the full board for approval.
Ohio Judge Allows Raped Psych Patient to Leave Hospital to Have an Abortion
Canton, OH (LifeNews.com) — On Ohio judge has ruled that a woman who is a patient at a psychiatric hospital can leave with a police escort to have an abortion. The unnamed woman, who is 45 and bipolar, was raped. "I’m not in a position to bar somebody from exercising a right,” Stark County Common Pleas Judge John Haas said during a court hearing Friday, according to an AP report. "I’m not in a position to encourage it, and I’m not going to prevent it.” The woman lives at the Heartland Behavioral Healthcare facility and has been there since June 2005. She had been in court for stealing a car, but Haas had ruled she should be hospitalized because of her condition. The woman never reported the rape and would not name her attacker. The woman told a newspaper she wanted an abortion because she didn’t want a mentally or physically handicapped baby. "I don’t want to think about it…. I love children. (But) I don’t want a child who (has deformities) because of the drugs I’m taking,” the woman told the Canton Repository.
Ireland Abortion Advocates Target Pregnancy Centers for Attack in New Campaign
Dublin, Ireland (LifeNews.com) — Abortion advocates in the United States have stepped up their efforts to target pregnancy centers for attack because they have taken away abortion business by giving them alternatives. Though abortion centers are normally the ones under fire for intimidating women or misleading them by denying information about abortion’s risks, pro-abortion groups in Ireland are claiming the same thing happens at pregnancy centers there. A woman who claims she was harassed at a pregnancy center reported the allegations to the pro-abortion Irish Family Planning Agency, which encouraged her to file a complaint with the Irish government. Now, the Health Service Executive has created a special unit to investigate that and other complaints against pregnancy centers. The woman says she was told by the Ask Majella agency that she was more likely to contract breast cancer if she proceeded with an abortion, which studies show is the case. Rita O’Connor, the clinics medical advisor, said it would issue a response to the complaint soon. IFPA has been trying to get the Irish government to implement stringent regulations of pregnancy centers.
