Jack Smith at the Catholic Key writes:

Regarding the Cardinal Newman report on Catholic colleges referring students to Planned Parenthood today. Some excerpts:

Your Child’s Reproductive Health Care Needs
Are well attended to at Catholic Colleges and Universities around the country according to sad, but not altogether unexpected, findings from the Cardinal Newman Society. . .

. . .Here’s why I think that is significant in a way that applies to all the Catholic colleges which refer to Planned Parenthood. If tomorrow, I decided to put up a blog post recommending to my young pregnant readers that they visit Planned Parenthood or form their consciences on the issue of abortion by reading Catholics For Choice, it would mean I’ve got another job lined up. That’s because I:

1. Work for a Catholic institution,
2. Know I work for a Catholic institution,
3. Know the expectations of working for a Catholic institution,
4. And know the consequence of violating such a core principle of that institution would mean I’m fired.

A lot of my friend’s on the left criticize the Cardinal Newman Society for the lacunae in their reporting on the Catholicity of Catholic Colleges and/or a perceived theological bias – What about the mission trips? What about the service learning? What about the justice education? Cardinal Newman is not telling the full story about our Catholic colleges, they say.

But let us not ask the Cardinal Newman Society. Let’s ask the employees of Catholic Colleges whether they:

1. Work for a Catholic institution,
2. Know they work for a Catholic institution,
3. Know the expectations of working for a Catholic institution
4. and know that the consequences of violating core principles of a Catholic institution would mean their discharge.

In a way, by looking at whether a college refers its students to an abortion mill, the Cardinal Newman Society has simply let the employees of Catholic colleges answer those questions for themselves. And in at least 150 instances, the reply was a resounding “NO!” MORE