Duquesne University, a Catholic institution in Pittsburgh, honored PBS’ “Washington Week” moderator Yamiche Alcindor with its inaugural “Award for Ethics and Integrity in Journalism.”
The recognition was bestowed by Duquesne President Ken Gormley in early December at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
The university’s leader said that Alcindor promoted the spirit of the school by ensuring that “all voices are heard.”
But there’s a catch. The recipient, who identifies as a Catholic, was open and upfront in her advocacy for abortion. She even defended the practice during her acceptance speech in Washington.
NBC's Yamiche Alcindor claims 'abortion comes up 90% of the time' with voters on the campaign trail https://t.co/m70k989A6i
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 12, 2022
Alcindor recalled that “every” woman she discussed the issue with in 10-15 states she appeared in before the midterm elections was “uncomfortable” with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. She claimed this held true even for conservative women.
The high court decision overturned Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 legalized abortion across the nation.
That statement is very suspect even by numbers revealed by Alcindor’s employers. Exit polling by NBC News during the midterm elections revealed an overwhelming 87% of Republican women were either “enthusiastic” or “satisfied” with Roe’s demise.
Amazingly, Alcindor told the awards gathering that she learned early in journalism that she cannot just step in front of the camera and “say whatever I want.” The honoree then asserted that she did not want to be a reporter who “tells you what I think.”
That personal code did not extend to a May appearance on MSNBC. Alcindor recounted her worry that Roe’s end would force women to continue with pregnancies they do not have the money to terminate.
The pregnancies, she said, “will then turn into children.”
Duquesne and Gormley in particular are no strangers to sending messages that do not align with the teachings of the Catholic Church. The institution’s president joined the University of Pittsburgh’s Leslie Davis in writing a letter to Pennsylvania lawmakers earlier this year concerning funding.
At that time, legislators were considering supporting Pitt students directly over objections to the university’s hospital conducting fetal tissue experiments on the remains of babies from elective abortions. The pair opposed the move.
That this horrific practice even exists is cause for outrage. But that it enjoyed the support of a prestigious Catholic university’s president, who also honored a pro-abortion journalist with an ethics award, is indefensible.
