A Catholic university in California refused to cancel a fundraiser for the Planned Parenthood abortion chain this week hosted by one of its student groups on campus.
Loyola Marymount University told Angelus News that the fundraiser is a project of its Women in Politics student club, not a “university sponsored” event.
Students and alumni have been urging the university to cancel the Nov. 5 fundraiser, calling it “an egregious violation of LMU’s Jesuit, Catholic identity.” Planned Parenthood is a billion-dollar abortion group that reported more than 354,000 abortions in 2020. The number represents about 40 percent of all unborn babies who were aborted in the U.S. that year.
“As a Catholic university, LMU has a responsibility to stand up for Catholic values,” said Samantha Stephenson, an alumnae who created a petition urging university leaders to cancel the event.
In a statement to Angelus News, however, a university spokesperson said Loyola will allow the fundraiser to be held as planned.
LifeNews depends on the support of readers like you to combat the pro-abortion media. Please donate now.
“The events, actions, or positions of student organizations, including Women in Politics, are not endorsed by the university,” the statement said.
The university also said it remains committed to its “Catholic, Jesuit, and Marymount heritage, values, and intellectual traditions,” and the activities of its student groups are “living examples that LMU embraces its mission, commitments, and the complexities of free and honest discourse,” according to the report.
Stephenson said the student group should be supporting a worthy charity that “more effectively supports women’s dignity” and is “not at odds with the Catholic Church.”
In her petition at Renew LMU, she quoted Pope Francis who recently compared aborting an unborn baby to hiring a hitman.
“’Is it right to eliminate, to take a human life to solve a problem? Is it right to hire a hitman to solve a problem? That’s what abortion is,’” Stephenson quoted, adding: “We hope you see through rationalizations that ‘Planned Parenthood does more than just abortions.’ The mafia also produces olive oil.”
According to the petition, the event is a fundraiser, not a debate, which means the Catholic university is supporting the largest abortion chain in America. Its latest annual report, which is publicly available online, shows more than 354,000 abortions, about 40 percent of all abortions in the U.S.
The same report shows that many of Planned Parenthood’s actual health services continue to decline. It provided less contraception, sterilizations, cancer screenings, adoption referrals and other women’s health services than the previous year, mirroring a continued downward trend.
Its patient numbers also have been dropping steadily over the past decade amid numerous reports of alleged unethical and illegal activities by Planned Parenthood, including selling aborted baby body parts, botching abortions that killed women, covering up the sexual abuse of minors, discriminating against pregnant and racial minority employees, exploiting young girls by selling cross-sex hormones and more.
ACTION ALERT: Find the petition at https://renewlmu.com. Contact university president Timothy Snyder at [email protected] or 310-338-2775.
