Nearly 10 percent of Christian colleges in the United States maintain ties with Planned Parenthood including several Catholic universities, according to an on-going investigation by a national student organization.
According to Students for Life of America (SFLA), 68 of the 784 colleges affiliated with a Christian church including Catholic and conservative Baptist denomination in the U.S. continue to maintain some type of relationship with Planned Parenthood, even after the group released its initial report back in 2021.
Former SFLA President Lauren Enriquez, who helped spearhead the audit, told The Epoch Times that every school found to have an active relationship with Planned Parenthood was given an opportunity to cut ties with the abortion group before being identified in the report.
“Needless to say it’s disappointing that Christian schools are defying their own principles by maintaining a relationship with Planned Parenthood,” Enriquez said.
The Epoch Times reached out to several of the colleges identified in the SFLA report. The only one to provide a response was Baylor University.
“As a Christian university, Baylor respects the sanctity of life. We do not allow for the institutional promotion of abortion or abortion-related services on our campus,” said Lori Fogleman, Vice President of Media and Public Relations at Baylor in a statement to The Epoch Times. “Additionally, Baylor representatives frequently tour and support Care Net Pregnancy Center both financially and through volunteer work as part of the University’s community outreach efforts.”
Following the release of the SFLA report, the Texas college, which identified itself as a Baptist university, Bears For Life, a pro-life group made up of Baylor students, launched an aggressive campaign against the administration including campus protests to end ties with Planned Parenthood.
The conservative college’s ties to Planned Parenthood were found to have dated back to at least 2006 when it began distributing a handbook it provided to students listing the abortion group’s Teen Education Program as an intern opportunity.
Bears For Life and SFLA also censured the college for listing a job opening for a Community Health Educator with Planned Parenthood on the school’s social work website and offering a class that used a textbook that referred to abortion as “safer than childbirth.”
As part of its ongoing investigation, called the Christian School Project, SLFA recently released a separate list called 11 Worst Performing Christian Schools that Failed to Promote Life.
SLFA graded the colleges and universities based on the level of their connections to the abortion groups, with an “F” indicating deep ties to the abortion group.
Those given an “F” included Duke University, which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church; Virginia’s Rhodes College, linked to the Presbyterian Church; and Augsburg University, a Lutheran college in Minnesota.
Duke was cited for continuing to provide internship and fellowship with Planned Parenthood and for promoting chemical abortion pills through its Obstetrics and Gynecology School of Medicine.
Rhodes earned its low grade for continuing to refer students to Planned Parenthood and also for encouraging community with the organization.
Augsburg University was cited by the group for “expliciting” promoting Planned Parenthood, in the report. The university’s website includes a direct link to Planned Parenthood clinics.
Notre Dame, probably one of the most notable Catholic universities in the country, was among the colleges given an “A+” by SFLA.
However, in a recent update to its report, the SFLA called out the “Fighting Irish” university for allowing two professors to continue to carry out their very pro-abortion views on campus. One of them, Tamara Kay, in fact, has identified herself as an abortion activist, and is said to promote abortion rights in her courses.
According to the student group Notre Dame Right To Life, Kay, a Global Affairs and Sociology professor, has also openly promoted abortion bills on campus.
Neither the college nor Kay responded to inquiries about the controversy, which has been covered by the National Catholic Register. According to Notre Dame’s newspaper Irish Rover, in defending herself against the backlash, Kay posted on social media that she was promoting her abortion views on Notre Dame campus as a “private citizen.”
Initially, SLFA reported 22 of the 237 Catholic universities in the United States were connected to Planned Parenthood. They included Holy Cross, Regis College, and Marquette University.
However, that number has since dropped down to eight.
In total, 40 colleges dropped their ties with Planned Parenthood following the release of the SFLA report, which had originally identified 108 Christian colleges with Planned Parenthood connections.
Enriquez told The Epoch Times said that her group outed the colleges to warn families and potential students they might be considering a faith-based college that condones abortion practices against their own religious beliefs.