A sociology professor at the University of Notre Dame offers to help students in procuring chemical abortions and “morning after” pills, a student newspaper reported Wednesday.
The Irish Rover, a conservative Catholic publication, reported that the professor, Tamara Kay, had advertised her willingness to assist in abortions on her office door with a sign reading: “This is a SAFE SPACE to get help and information on ALL Healthcare issues and access—confidentially with care and compassion.”
Kay’s actions came after the Indiana Legislature passed a law Sept. 15 to ban abortion statewide. Notre Dame is a private Catholic university, and the Catholic Church has explicitly pro-life teaching on abortion.
Kay’s sign included her personal email address. Her office door also was adorned by the letter “J,” which denotes a Notre Dame professor willing to help students seeking abortion.
It isn’t clear how many Notre Dame professors display the symbol. Kay since has removed the sign from her office door, The Irish Rover reported.
Kay, a professor of global affairs and sociology at Notre Dame for six years, recently was part of a panel discussion titled “Post-Roe America: Making Intersectional Feminist Sense of Abortion Bans.”
During the event, she discussed “why she thought abortion bans are ineffective and immoral, complementing her work to bring abortion to Notre Dame students,” The Irish Rover reported.
In a Sept. 16 tweet, Kay wrote: “Will help as a private citizen if you have issues w access or cost. DM [direct message] me,” according to the Rover.
The Rover also reported that, during the week of Sept. 26, Kay changed her Twitter profile from “Dr. Tamara Kay—Notre Dame abortion rights expert.” It now reads: “Dr. Tamara Kay: Abortion Rights & Policy Scholar.”
Kay’s Twitter feed regularly features retweets of messages from Catholics for Choice and Abortion Finder. She has deleted tweets regarding students and abortions, the Rover reported.
Merlot Fogarty, president of Notre Dame Right to Life, a pro-life student organization, told The Daily Signal in an email that he commends Notre Dame for being a pro-life institution, but that the university should do more to protect women and unborn children from chemical abortion.
“We want to emphasize our support for Notre Dame as one of the few institutions still formally committed to protecting life, but [Notre Dame] needs to be doing more to protect women and children to truly promote a culture of life on campus,” Fogarty said. “We look forward to a public response from Notre Dame on this situation and [to] working with [the] administration and residential life to educate students and faculty on the danger of chemical abortion.”
Fogarty emphasized Notre Dame’s role as setting an example for other Catholic institutions, and the responsibility that comes with being a prominent Catholic university.
“Notre Dame is poised as the preeminent Catholic university to be the model for Catholic institutions across the nation in the onset of the battle against chemical abortion and the culture of death,” Fogarty said.
The Daily Signal sought comment from Kay by email and received this automated response:
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Notre Dame police are monitoring this email account and only forwarding me work-related email from students and colleagues. I won’t get the rest.
Unfortunately you can’t please everyone: white nationalist Catholic hate groups can’t appreciate 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!
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