NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

    NEW YORK (CWNews.com) - Internet journalist Matt Drudge refused to appear on his Fox News channel program on Saturday after network officials refused to allow him to show a picture of an unborn child undergoing surgery.

    Drudge said he wanted to show a photograph, printed in several newspaper accounts, of a 21-week-old unborn child reaching out from his mother's womb to touch the surgeon's hand as he underwent surgery for spina bifida, a birth defect. He said his intent was to show the picture, "and just say, 'What does it say about life? Look at this hand coming out.'"

    A Fox News spokesman countered, "He was using this photo from the National Enquirer as a jumping-off point to talk about partial-birth abortion." Spokesman Brian Lewis added, "It was a picture of an emergency operation for spina bifida. We thought it was a blatant misrepresentation. It was a straight editorial decision."

    Fox said on Tuesday that the dispute with Fox had been settled and that he would return to his news and commentary show this Saturday. He added: "If I was going to show a picture of an ostrich egg with a foot popping out, it would be fine. It happens to be a picture of a human. People get upset about that." He said he would try again to show the photo on his show.

    The photo has also been published on the Internet by several news sites, including The Tennessean newspaper at (http://www.tennessean.com/sii/99/09/07/fetus07.shtml).

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