A state appeals court ruled in favor of California’s new embryonic stem cell agency in a suit brought by opponents of abortion and taxes who challenged the validity of the agency.

California's stem cell research program is legal, a state appeals court ruled Monday in a decision that could hasten the day when the state's $3 billion research effort can get fully under way. The San Francisco-based court upheld a decision made by a lower court last spring that found that the program did not violate laws concerning state spending, the structure of ballot initiatives or rules regarding conflicts of interest....