Nets Ignore Pro-life Protests in Denver

While the national media fret over whether or not there will be unity in the Democratic Party and gush over Monday night’s speeches by Senator Ted Kennedy and Michelle Obama, pro-lifers are out in Denver, Colorado, protesting and working hard to get their message across. Of course, it would be easier to get their message out if the national media paid attention to their protests.

None of the big three broadcast network morning shows -- ABC’s "Good Morning America," NBC’s "Today" and CBS’s "Early Show" -- reported on these protests. Of course, this should come as no surprise. The broadcast networks also ignored this year’s March for Life as well as the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling.

In contrast, all three of the network evening news broadcasts reported on the anti-war protests on the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Moreover, these reports all aired within the first ten minutes of each program.

MyFox Colorado, a local affiliate of Fox News, reported on the protests:

Anti-abortion activists tucked 500 roses into the security fence surrounding Denver's Pepsi Center in a protest-prayer vigil to urge the Democratic Party and Barack Obama to outlaw abortion.

Using a bullhorn, the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, also denounced the city for its security arrangements for the Democratic National Convention. The convention begins Monday.

Mahoney said he had been assured by City Attorney David Fine that, despite a new security perimeter erected the night before, protesters in Saturday's "Prayer for Change" event would be able to get within about 30 yards of the Pepsi Center. The closest they could get was about 100 yards.

So instead of laying roses on the ground near the Pepsi Center as planned, Mahoney instructed the approximately 100 participants -- most of them in their teens and 20s -- to stick the roses into the security fence, made of a metal mesh resembling the material used in lawn furniture.

Only a corner of the Pepsi Center could be seen from the protest site.

"This is a sign of the crushing of the First Amendment, which I happen to think is tragic," said Mahoney, standing on a sidewalk between the fence and two city dump trucks blocking a center entrance to traffic.

A message left at Fine's office wasn't immediately returned, but a city spokeswoman said she was working to check out Mahoney's claims.

The event attracted a handful of counter-protesters from a group called the World Can't Wait. They held signs with slogans such as, "Life begins when you stand up to Christian fascists."

Updated 14:30 EDT with Getty Images file photo via Minnesota Public Radio.

Original caption: Pro-life activist Lynn Jackson, with the group Bound for Life, protests in front of the U.S. Supreme Court November 30, 2005 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)