Catholic universities among dozens of schools with links to abortion industry, study finds

CNA Staff, Sep 17, 2024 / 15:20 pm

A study by the pro-life group Students for Life of America (SFLA) has identified dozens of U.S. Christian colleges and universities, including multiple Catholic institutions, maintaining “some type of relationship” with the abortion industry, including the abortion giant Planned Parenthood. 

SFLA’s Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement said in its 2024 Christian Schools Project report that of the 732 Christian schools it investigated, more than 80 were found to have some sort of connection with Planned Parenthood or another abortion provider.

Those connections included “an internship opportunity that recommended or credited work at Planned Parenthood or another local abortion vendor” as well as linking to Planned Parenthood as a “health resource,” a “class resource,” or a “volunteer opportunity.”

The report counted each factor as an “infraction,” assigning grades to the schools based on the number of infractions given to each one. Nearly 30%, or 24, received a “F” rating with four or more infractions, while 15 schools received a “D” rating for three infractions, 20 received “C” for two infractions, and 24 received a “B” grade for one infraction. 

Schools were awarded an “A” grade if they had no infractions, while institutions received an A+ rating if they also offered proof of “a relationship with a local, life-affirming pregnancy help center.”

Three Catholic institutions — Boston College, Santa Clara University in California, and St. Elizabeth University in New Jersey — received “F” ratings in the report. St. John Fisher University in New York and University of Detroit Mercy in Michigan, meanwhile, received “D” ratings. 

Among the infractions identified by the report include University of Detroit Mercy listing Planned Parenthood as among “research guides” for students studying “women’s and gender studies.” 

Santa Clara University, meanwhile, suggests on its website that its health center will make referrals to Planned Parenthood, while the school last year hosted a symposium examining what it described as “anti-abortion and anti-trans laws.”

Overall, 17 Catholic institutions were found to have some connection with Planned Parenthood or to otherwise promote the abortion provider or other abortion resources. 

None of the Catholic schools on the list responded to queries from CNA regarding the report’s findings.

The Institute for Pro-Life Advancement said that U.S. Christian schools’ support for abortion has “increased annually by 10% since 2022” in the wake of Roe v. Wade’s repeal by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The institute noted that a dozen schools “removed ties to the abortion industry after initial contact with researchers in 2024.”

The study has been run since 2021, during which “54 total connections [with the abortion industry] have been severed,” the report said.

Encouragingly, in the most recent report, “Christian schools earning an ‘A+’ grade by supporting their local pregnancy help center increased by 32%.”