Mary Doe Remains Anonymous—Thanks to Media

THE ORLANDO SENTINEL, Sept. 3—When two women at the center of one of the most momentous decisions in the nation's history decide they made a mistake, one would expect it to be front-page news.

But syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker scoured the nation's newspapers and found minimal coverage attending the about-face of both women involved in legalizing abortion.

Parker noted that in late August, Sandra Cano joined Norma McCorvey in filing motions seeking to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decisions striking down practically all restrictions on abortion in the country.

Cano was the “Mary Doe” in Doe v. Bolton, the companion case to Roe v. Wade. McCorvey was “Jane Roe,” the plaintiff in the latter decision.

“Despite the enormous importance of Cano's motion, the mainstream media have largely ignored it,” Parker wrote. “A Lexis-Nexis search turned up only one story about the filing, but it was a report by U.S. Newswire,” which is mainly a source for press releases.

“Let me be blunt,” she concluded. “What we have here is a clear and present bias against the anti-abortion side of the abortion debate.”

Neither McCorvey nor Cano ever had abortions, and both claim they were “used by lawyers on fraudulent grounds,” Parker pointed out.

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Bishop Gregory Fears Media Feeding Frenzy

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, Sept. 5—Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he fears the Church will face a “communications nightmare” early next year.

In January he plans to release the results of a still-ongoing national scientific study considering sexual abuse of young people by Catholic clergy. Since other professionals who deal with young people aren't being studied, Bishop Gregory warned that media will have nothing to which to compare the statistics.

“From the saturation coverage in 2002, some might like to think that sexual abuse of children in our society could be eliminated by eliminating Catholic priest abusers,” he told the annual conference of the Religion Newswriters Association.

He suggested similar scrutiny be given “educators, athletic coaches, Scout directors, medical personnel and other religious personnel.”

Catholic Broadcaster Debuts New Live Show

EWTN, Sept. 8—On the feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Eternal Word Television Network launched a new live radio talk show, EWTN Open Line.

The 60-minute program will air Monday through Friday from 3-4 p.m. (ET) and will offer a different host and Church-related topic each day.

Mondays will feature Marcus Grodi covering Catholic converts. Tuesdays Barbara McGuigan will answer questions on family matters, pro-life and chastity issues. Wednesdays Scripture scholar Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa will discuss the Bible and the Church. Thursdays feature John Martignoni on apologetics. Fridays the show will feature Colin Donovan on the theology of the Catholic Church.