Notre Dame Caught Funding Pro-Abortion Student Internships

Opinion   |   Brad Mattes   |   Apr 5, 2012   |   5:27PM   |   Washington, DC

Three strikes and you’re out? It’s a little ironic that I start my column this way, considering it’s opening day for our beloved Reds here in Cincinnati.

College is a time of equipping students for real world vocations—at least that’s what it’s supposed to be. Unfortunately, some universities see these academic years as an opportunity to indoctrinate their students into a culture of death.

What’s especially saddening is the latest example comes from the flagship Catholic University of Notre Dame. Individuals and organizations professing the Catholic faith have been at the forefront of protecting unborn babies from the beginning of legalized abortion.

If you recall, a short time ago Notre Dame created a firestorm of controversy when they invited pro-abortion President Barack Obama to address a commencement ceremony and gave him an honorary doctoral degree. Strike one. Tons of donors quit giving. Father Jenkins, president of the university, said he was sorry, and claimed Notre Dame was still pro-life.

I doubted Fr. Jenkins’ sincerity then and even more now. Talk is cheap, and in this case it’s a scandal. It appears a revered Catholic institution continues to kick unborn babies to the curb in exchange for influence and power.

The university’s Department of Political Science has made “Summer Internship Programs” available to students and published a list on its website. The list includes some of the most notorious pro-abortion organizations in the nation like Emily’s List, the Feminist Majority Foundation and the United Nations Population Fund. These organizations have missions dedicated to aggressively furthering abortion-on-demand. Strike two. Here’s more detail (the most egregious, Emily’s List, has been edited out):

According to Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) Student Action—a watchdog group that’s currently leading a petition against listing these pro-abortion organizations—Notre Dame has actually funded some of the controversial internships. TFP also found that in the past, the school has supported questionable groups like the National Organization for (some) Women and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!

 

It certainly doesn’t help that one university faculty member has labeled pro-life petitioners “monsters.” The same professor even belittled them saying, “Do you think only Christians like you have a purchase on morality?” Further, he defended pro-abortion organizations for doing “fabulous work.”

Despite university officials attempting to clarify that listing these pro-abortion internships doesn’t necessarily constitute an endorsement, the surrounding controversy isn’t going away anytime soon and it shouldn’t.

This grave injustice to the unborn must not come and pass without the University hearing from you.

The University of Notre Dame must be held accountable for helping to promote a deadly pro-abortion agenda. Please contact the university’s president, Fr. John I. Jenkins, and politely communicate with him regarding this latest incident.

If enough of us speak up on this important issue, those in charge might be persuaded to change course. If we don’t, strike three by the University is certain to be just around the corner. Whatever the end result happens to be, pro-lifers like you and I know that being a voice for the unborn is never a vain undertaking.

In fact, it’s always a battle worth fighting.

Contact the university and its president, Fr. John Jenkins:

The University of Notre Dame
Fr. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., President
400 Main Building
Notre Dame, IN 46556
574.631.3903
[email protected]

LifeNews.com Note: Bradley Mattes is the executive director of Life Issues Institute, a national pro-life educational group. Mattes is a veteran of the pro-life cause, with over 33 years of educational, political and humanitarian experience.