by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat

• A Wall Street Journal blog has a short interview with James Sherley and Theresa Deisher, the plaintiffs in the case Sherley v. Sebelius which has at least temporarily halted the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research:

  About 2004, I was sitting in my kitchen with my kids listening to the radio – I have two daughters – and I heard one of my colleagues responding to a question from an interviewer. The question was, “Do scientists and physicians know when life begins?” And the response was, we weren’t sure. I knew that not to be the case.

  My whole reason for being here now is because of recognizing there’s a need for scientists to give the public information that’s correct. And then the public can make more informed decisions about what we should do with embryos and embryonic stem cell research.

• In MN, Connie Stroud (pictured left) has been sentenced to 3 years in jail for driving drunk and crashing her truck into a minivan, killing an unborn child:

  Connie Stroud, 43, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent, more than 2x the legal limit, when she drove the wrong way on an I-94 ramp in north Minneapolis and struck the van, carrying Tao Thao, who was 24 weeks pregnant, her husband, Yia Vang, and their 5 children.

  At a 2-hour sentencing Wednesday, Thao and Vang wore T-shirts reading “We love you. Always and Forever” and carrying an image of the boy they had planned to name Jaylee….

  Stroud had drinks… and then went… for more, all while on call as a surgical technician at United Hospital. … [S]he was on Xanax and other prescription drugs that carry warnings about alcohol ingestion.

• The Center for Reproductive Rights has issued a “First Look Back at the 2010 State Legislative Session“ report which contends that “2010 has been one of the most challenging state legislative sessions for women’s access to abortion in many years. States considered and enacted some of the most extreme restrictions on abortion in recent memory, as well as passing laws creating dozens of other significant new hurdles.”