California High Court Dismisses Stem Cell Challenge

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed two lawsuits that sought to block the state's publicly financed $3 billion stem cell research program approved by voters last year. The court's unanimous decision, however, does not rule out the possibility that a lower state court could get involved in the matter, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs said. "It's highly likely that some form of action in a lower court will be brought," said David Llewellyn, a Sacramento lawyer representing Californians for Public Accountability and Ethical Science, a nonprofit group. California had been unable to sell the initial bonds to launch the program while the suits were before the Supreme Court. It was unclear whether it would move forward now with another court battle looming. The nonprofit group, which includes conservative Christian and other organizations opposed to the stem cell program, argued that members of an oversight committee had conflicts of interest in deciding who should get state money for program grants and loans. The California program, approved by 59 percent of the voters last November, is to spend $3 billion in state bond money over 10 years to establish the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

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