A Notre Dame professor has allegedly been aiding students in obtaining abortions, including after Indiana enacted a law banning nearly all abortions, according to The Irish Rover, an independent student newspaper at the University.
Professor Tamara Kay, who works in the Keough School of Global Affairs, helps students obtain both “Plan B” morning-after pills as well as pills that can induce an abortion up to 12 weeks into pregnancy, the Rover alleges. Those actions would violate not only university policy, as Notre Dame does not offer Plan B through its University Health Services, but state law, which outlawed nearly all abortions until a recent decision from a federal judge to block enforcement of the law.
Issue 3: Notre Dame Professors Help Students Obtain Abortions
Read Here: https://t.co/sD8Pa9JxgJ
— The Irish Rover (@IrishRoverND) October 12, 2022
Kay allegedly would broadcast her services over social media before deleting the posts before the Rover story was published. She reportedly participated in a campaign for professors to mark their office doors with the letter “J” to indicate they were willing to help students access abortion. She previously tweeted that, as a private citizen, she was “here to help [students] access healthcare when [they] need it, and [the professors were] prepared in every way.”
This work took place before a federal judge blocked enforcement of Indiana’s abortion law, meaning Kay would have been acting in direct violation of state law. Kay reportedly advertised a willingness to assist students not only with access, but with costs as well.
The Rover asked Kay if she believed her reported work was in line with Catholic teaching and university policy. “Oh, I am doing that as a private citizen, so that’s been cleared by the university … I talked to the dean and have also spoken to ND Media about policies,” she answered.
University Spokesperson Dennis Brown did not offer a response when the River asked him if Kay was acting in accordance with university policy. “A number of people are traveling this week to Las Vegas. We’ll get back to you when we can,” he told the Rover, nine days before it published its article. (RELATED: Supreme Court Refuses To Take Up Rhode Island Fetal Personhood Case)
The Rover claims that all social media posts promoting abortions for students have been deleted in recent days, and the “J” has been removed from Kay’s office. Emails sent to her Notre Dame inbox reportedly generated a response reading “Dear Friends and Colleagues, Notre Dame police are monitoring and curating this email account so it may take a bit longer than normal for me to get back to you. Apparently, white nationalist Catholic hate groups are not happy with my academic work on reproductive health, rights, and justice. But ND supports my academic freedom, so if you are interested, check out my website below. Have a wonderful day!”
Kay claimed that, to her, abortion is a policy issue. “And yes, my view runs afoul of Church teaching, but in other areas, my positions are perfectly aligned [with the Church],” she said at a September 21 panel entitled “Post-Roe America: Making Intersectional Feminist Sense of Abortion Bans.”