Catholic women convoke bioethics discussion and meet with Justice Alito

Denver, Colo., Mar 31, 2009 / 22:22 pm

A Catholic women’s group will meet in Washington D.C. to hear a bioethics panel and to meet with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

The event, “New Springtime for Women,” will be held on Saturday, April 25 at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. It is co-sponsored by the women’s group ENDOW, whose name stands for Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women.

The gathering will feature a panel presentation on “Biotechnology and the Human Person,” including panelists Marilyn Coors, Ph.D., associate professor at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado, Denver; and Patrick Lee, Ph.D., a bioethics professor and director of the Institute of Bioethics at Franciscan University of Steubenville.

A mother-daughter event on April 24 will give teenagers and their mothers and grandmothers the opportunity to tour the Supreme Court and have a private meeting with Justice Alito.

Other event speakers include Helen Alvaré, Consultor for the Pontifical Council for the Laity and law professor at George Mason University School of Law; Jeanette DeMelo, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Denver; and Therese Polakovic, founder and executive director of ENDOW.

The Pope John Paul II Cultural Center and the Papal Foundation are co-sponsoring the event with ENDOW. Begun in 2003, ENDOW has nearly 5,400 participants in 64 dioceses in the U.S. and Canada.