Pro-Life Spokesman Says N.Y. Times Misquoted Him

NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE COMMITTEE, June 18 — Douglas Johnson, legislative director at the National Right to Life Committee, sent an open letter to protest what he called misquotation by New York Times columnist Gail Collins.

Collins, who was recently named editor of the Times editorial page, spoke with Johnson about embryonic stem-cell research. When she referred to the embryos as “fertilized eggs,” Johnson says he explained that a fertilized egg is a single cell, and thus does not have a cluster of stem cells within it. He added that embryo researchers often destroy the embryos at one week of development, long after the one-cell stage. He also said calling embryos “fertilized eggs” is “politically motivated.”

Despite all this, Collins’ June 15 column supporting embryo-destructive research quoted Johnson saying, “We start with the principle that each of these eggs is an individual member of the human species.”

When Johnson complained, Collins replied that her notes showed that he used the term “eggs,” which Johnson said he “would never use to refer to human beings.”

Medieval Flower Power in New Jersey

THE RECORD, June 18 — Hundreds of volunteers and a million fresh petals combined to create a “Carpet of Flowers” in a New Jersey church, the Bergen County, N.J., daily reported.

The Carpet of Flowers or “infiorata” tradition was started by Cistercian monks in Italy in the 1200s. At St. John Neumann Church in Mount Laurel, N.J., Brother Anselmo Florio and volunteers create a carpet every year for the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. This year, the carpet included scenes of the resurrection of Jesus, St. Matthew, St. Katharine Drexel and two peacocks symbolizing eternity.

Forget-me-nots, asters, carnations, mums, daisies and many more varieties make up the carpet.

Brother Florio, 74, believes his is the only infiorata in the United States.

Marriage: Forget the Doomsayers

U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, June 17 — Newsweek's May 28 cover boldly proclaimed, “The New Single Mom — Why the Traditional Family Is Fading Fast.” Postpone the funeral, U.S. News and World Report columnist John Leo said, predicting magazines would soon be running stories about marriage “making a comeback.”

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyzed 1995 to 2000 data and found that the decline of marriage has stopped. The proportion of children under 18 living with a single mother declined 8% in five years, and the change is strongest among black families. The proportion of black children living with two parents rose 11.8%.

Leo credited a strong economy and welfare reform. The return to two-parent families is “concentrated largely among the poor,” the Center found. A study of welfare reform in Minnesota found an increase in marriage rates and marital stability.