National Media Watch

Secretary of State Defends Iraq War

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, May 21 — Speaking at a press conference prior to her commencement address at Boston College, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that President Bush’s actions in Iraq are not in conflict with Catholic teachings, said UPI.

“We have overthrown a dictator who brutalized his population,” said Rice.

Rice was invited to speak and receive an honorary law degree at the Jesuit college May 22. More than 200 members of the faculty signed a letter written by two of the school’s theologians, objecting to the invitation.

Senate to Vote on Marriage This Week

ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 18 — A U.S. Senate committee approved a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex “marriage,” after two senators argued over the amendment, reported the AP.

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., declared his opposition to the amendment and stated that he would leave the proceedings. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., told him, “Good riddance.” Specter, who is also opposed to the amendment, said that it deserved a debate.

The panel voted 10-8, along party lines, to send the amendment to the full Senate. It is expected to be taken up the week of June 5. The amendment would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex “marriages.”

“Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman,” reads the measure. In order to be approved, the measure would require approval by two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states.

Alabama Abortion Business Shut Down

BIRMINGHAM NEWS, May 19 — A Birmingham abortion business was shut down by state health officials after learning that the business gave the abortion drug RU-486 to a woman who later delivered a 6-pound, 4-ounce stillborn child, reported the News.

According to the report, the patient went to Summit Medical Center of Alabama on Feb. 20. In violation of state regulations, she received an ultrasound from a non-physician and was told that she was only six weeks pregnant. The business later gave her the abortion-inducing drug Mifeprex and the hormone Misoprostol to induce labor, without a physician administering it. On Feb. 26, the patient went to the hospital and delivered a “stillborn, macerated, 6-pound, 4-ounce baby.”

Investigators found that the business had falsified records to show that the physician, who was not present at the facility, had performed the ultrasound and provided the abortion.

The State Board of Health issued an emergency order of license suspension against Summit Medical Center.

“That’s not something we do very often,” said Dr. Donald Williamson, state health officer. “The incident involved multiple and serious violations of the rules.”