A chalk message was written near the John Ireland statue on the St. Paul campus in May 2022, a few days following the leaked news of the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade. The message read “abortion stops a beating heart, #SaveHumanLives2022.” The message was later washed away by other students. The students who washed away the message were then discovered by public safety and were required to meet with the Dean of Students, said one of the students present at this meeting.
Soon, a new abortion-rights message replaced the anti-abortion message in chalk. TommieMedia learned a student then witnessed another male student spit on the abortion-rights message.
By mid-summer, interim President Robert Vischer asked for civil discourse on the issue in an email sent to St. Thomas students and staff following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Vischer posed the question, “What does it mean to be a Catholic university community when it comes to the issue of abortion in a post-Roe world?” So let me add my voice to the conversation.
Abortion has always been a hot topic, more so now after the Supreme Court ruling in June.
Roe v. Wade was a landmark decision because it ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant person’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.
Before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, nearly all states outlawed abortion except to save a woman’s life if it was threatened by the pregnancy. Otherwise, women had to find illegal services to obtain an abortion.
Comprehensive abortion care is included in the list of essential health care services published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020. According to the WHO, lack of access to safe and affordable abortion services, as well as the stigma surrounding abortions, are a major threat to women’s physical and mental health.
The report noted that around 73 million induced abortions, which end a pregnancy either through medication or a medical procedure, take place worldwide each year. Six out of 10 (61%) of all unintended pregnancies, and 3 out of 10 (29%) of all pregnancies, end in induced abortion worldwide. Around 45% of all abortions are unsafe, meaning untrained persons using invasive and dangerous methods, of which 97% take place in developing countries. Unsafe abortions can cause lifelong health problems to the mother and can even end in death.
The Catholic Church does not condone contraceptives or abortions, instead using Natural Family Planning, which is a practice used by couples in the Catholic Church to track women’s ovulation to plan pregnancy without having to use contraceptives like the birth control pill or condoms.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.”
The university, which is affiliated with the Catholic church, does not have an official statement regarding its stance on abortion. This is shocking to me especially after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Although I could not find an official statement, here are some things I did find.
According the St. Thomas Center for Well-Being’s list of resources for sexual and reproductive health, family planning and pregnacy testing are available. There is no service mentioning obtaining or teaching about contraceptives. In contrast, the University of Minnesota’s website includes a lot more educational resources and papers informing students about abortion and safe sex practices.
I’ve also spoken to peers and have observed more of what is happening around the St. Thomas campus.
In November 2021, the St. Thomas Peer Ministry staff was going to use St. Thomas funds to transport students to hold a “prayer for life” in front of Planned Parenthood. According to TommieMedia, “around 15 students and faculty held rosary beads while saying Hail Mary prayers and occasionally singing a song at the clinic on Vandalia Street, about a mile from campus. Peer Ministry organized the 7:50 a.m. event to pray for ‘the unborn and their mothers facing difficult circumstances.’”
One student said that “Campus Ministry is trying to stand for the Catholic faith that the university was founded out of.”
Feminist Community, a St. Thomas club, took a stand against the Planned Parenthood protest event and forwarded its concerns about the event to a group of St. Thomas faculty.
“The sponsorship of this event by an office on campus that claims to support and welcome all is blatantly disrespectful of all female students at the university, many of whom go to Planned Parenthood for health services since there are no reproductive health services on campus,” FemCom wrote in its email.
FemCom says it received an email back from a male faculty member defending the decision to support the Planned Parenthood event.
What makes the Planned Parenthood disagreement frustrating is that the protest was being defended by men – men who will never know the struggles of pregnancy. Men who will never be caught in a situation where they are unexpectedly pregnant, putting their health at risk. Men who will never know the dilemma of keeping a child or aborting it.
How is spitting on the abortion-rights sidewalk sign and, in effect, degrading the choice of pregnant individuals a part of the Common Good?
As Vischer noted, people have different stances on abortion. It is not within everyone’s moral limits to support this procedure, and that is OK. However, shaming people who are able to get pregnant for getting this procedure for their own personal reasons is not OK.
People are not lined up outside doctor’s offices protesting the vasectomy procedure for males. So, why aren’t St. Thomas students itching to go protest that? A vasectomy is preventing a life as well, so where is the intense passion for that?
St. Thomas’ job is not only to support us as students but to support us as people. Life will not always go as planned and getting pregnant in college is not that uncommon. A resource named Unplanned Pregnancy noted that more than two million women between the ages of 18 and 24 become pregnant each year and among that, 26% of undergraduate college students are currently raising children.
Protesting abortions is disrespecting the choice of those who are able to get pregnant. Knowing that some male students and faculty members, and some female students and faculty members, are criticizing the personal choice of a large demographic of St. Thomas students is extremely upsetting, as a person who is part of that demographic.
I hope that this column keeps the conversation open regarding St. Thomas’ involvement and resources for safe sexual health and abortions. Perhaps conversations with other Catholic universities are in order.
To answer Vischer’s question, “what does it mean to be a Catholic university community when it comes to the issue of abortion in a post-Roe world?”, it means being a positive support system, despite all of our contrasting views. The health and success of St. Thomas students will always be more important than varying political and religious views. All for the common good.
Here are some resources about abortion and pregnancy for students:
The Hope Clinic for Women offers post-abortion support groups and counseling.
OurJustice is a nonprofit organization educating people and providing resources for women seeking abortions.
Planned Parenthood offers so many resources for all people regarding pregancy, abortions, diseases spread through sex, cancer screenings, STD testing and more. Planned Parenthood also offers support groups regarding issues around sex and gender. There is a location in St. Paul off University Avenue.
ProChoice America is a great educational organization that updates readers on the latest news and fights for abortion rights for all women.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis has resources on the issue in its Respect Life Outreach program.
Macy Berendsen can be reached at macy.berendsen@stthomas.edu.
Editor’s note: The choice to use “pregnant people” to acknowledge reproductive rights was deliberate because not everyone who gets pregnant identifies as a woman.
This is a cool article! Only thing is that FemCom stands for Feminist Community not Feminist Communications :)
It’s mind boggling that people who chose to attend a Catholic university are perplexed when the university supports Catholic principals.
Frankly, if it is too much for you to handle that your chosen Catholic university is, you know…Catholic as advertised, I’d recommend that you disassociate yourself with the university and go to a place that better serves your anti-Catholic points of view. But one thing that is not acceptable is for you and others to try and destroy things that you voluntarily associate with because they don’t conform to your expectations. Instead you wear a cloak of faux victimhood as if you haven’t a choice to go down the road a couple miles and be a Gopher.
Here’s a reality check for you: The Roman Catholic Church will exist far beyond you or I shaking off our mortal coils. The Church will also stand against the callous destruction of human life that is abortion long after we have been dead and buried as well. You do not have to believe what the church believes (or what science continually reveals about abortion) to go to a Catholic Institution, but to kick in the proverbially doors of one of the longest running institutions on Earth and try to change long held beliefs or an understanding of science which has been held up until 10 seconds ago ( in regards to your “pregnant persons” phraseology)for your convenience is the height of narcissism and self-importance.