Harvard Pro-Life Students Tout Reimbursement for Forced Abortion Dues
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 9, 2004
Boston, MA (LifeNews.com) — Pro-life students at Harvard University renewed an annual effort on Monday to promote a rebate the prestigious college offers for a partial refund of their University Health Services fee that is used to pay for abortions.
According to the Harvard Crimson student newspaper, members of Harvard Right to Life placed notes in student mailboxes and set up tables on campus, as they have done in past years.
The purpose of the effort, according to HRL President Catherine Roche, is to let students know that they can get a small, but symbolic rebate from the university if they don’t want their student fees used to pay for abortions.
“I don’t feel that people should have to spend their hard earned money on something that they oppose,” she told the Crimson.
"The main point of the project is to give people a choice as to how they spend their money and let them know we have a right to make this choice," Roche explained.
The rebate dates back to 1994 when then-student Daniel Choi found information on the university funding abortions buried in a student handbook.
Though there is no abortion facility on campus, Harvard’s student health insurance pays for pregnant students to obtain abortions at off-campus abortion businesses to the tune of $350-$575 per abortion.
The abortion subsidy has existed for about 20 years. This year’s rebate, based on the number of people having abortions and the number of people paying the health insurance fees, is just $1.
But the amount doesn’t matter to pro-life students who want no part of funding something so morally objectable.
"Without us students wouldn’t know about the option," Roche told the Crimson.
Other colleges and universities, such as Yale University, have come under fire for paying for abortions with student fees.
At Yale, women students are entitled to free, unlimited abortions.
Related web sites:
Harvard Right to Life – https://hcs.harvard.edu/~hrl
