Mary FioRito

Mary Hallan FioRito is the Cardinal Francis George Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. She is an attorney whose areas of expertise include human life issues, primarily abortion law and policy, perinatal hospice, abortion malpractice, and the Consistent Ethic of Life.  She holds an honors degree in English Literature from Loyola University Chicago and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University School of Law.

Prior to joining EPPC in 2015, Ms. FioRito worked for the Catholic Church for nearly three decades. She was named the Archdiocese of Chicago’s first female Vice-Chancellor in 2000, the same year she was honored by Newsweek Magazine as one of their “Women of the New Century,” highlighting her contribution to the nation’s public conversation about abortion. In 2003, she was promoted to the position of Executive Assistant to the late Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., a role she held for twelve years.

A popular speaker and debater, she regularly presents at professional conferences, colleges, and universities. Venues have included Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Princeton University, and Northwestern University School of Law. She is known for her good humor and cordial, civil and persuasive advocacy of the pro-life position.

Ms. FioRito’s writing and opinions have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, Newsweek, National Review, and many religious publications. Her radio and television appearances include NPR, NBC, EWTN, and PBS. She is a bi-monthly recurring guest on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air show, and previously hosted the radio program Winds of Change in Chicago.

She serves on the Board of Directors the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, Aid for Women, a network of pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes, and Life House, a women’s shelter serving the Black community on Chicago’s South Side. She is the recipient of the Catholic Press Association’s Henry Hyde Award and was elected by her peers to the Executive Committee of Pro-Life Vanguard, a professional affiliation of more than 80 different pro-life organizations.

Ms. FioRito lives in Chicago with her husband and three young adult daughters. You can follow her on X: @maryfiorito Substack: @shedoesallthingswell

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