Thursday, October 04, 2007

SHOCKER: Catholic Georgetown U. Will Now Fund Law Students to Lobby for Abortion

Oldest Catholic university in the nation to give grants to students who lobby for abortion for agencies such as Planned Parenthood...

From "SHOCKER: Catholic Georgetown U. Will Now Fund Law Students to Lobby for Abortion" by John-Henry Westen, posted 9/26/07 at Lifesite.org

WASHINGTON, DC, September 26, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A change of policy at Georgetown University Law Center will permit the university - which is the oldest Catholic university in the nation - to give grants to students who lobby for abortion for agencies such as Planned Parenthood. The Hoya, the Georgetown University newspaper, reports on its front page today about the policy change.

The policy change was announced September 7 by Law Center Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff in a letter published in the Law Center's student newspaper. The decision comes after the Law Center got flack from pro-abortion students and faculty for directing student group Equal Justice Foundation, which received university funds, to refuse funding to a student who applied for funding to intern at Planned Parenthood.

The Hoya reports that the university Law Center will no longer consider the mission of organizations in determining grants, as was the case for the initial denial of funding for the Planned Parenthood position. "In partnership with the Equal Justice Foundation, the Law Center will provide grants to all students who work on law-related issues at a public interest organization or government agency," wrote Aleinikoff.

Joy Welan, the president of the Catholic university's Law Center pro-abortion group - "Law Students for Choice" - rejoiced at the decision admitting that her group met with Aleinikoff several times over the policy. "We think that this compromise is fantastic news, for students who are interested in pursuing careers in reproductive rights advocacy," Welan told The Hoya. "The dean has taken a huge step forward in advancing Georgetown's commitment to public interest law, and we applaud him for it."

Read the rest of this article.