Kay’s social media is filled with abortion support.
Kay also seemingly refers to the pro-life movement, which includes students, professors and alumni of the university, as wacky, dumb and bigots for having views that align with the religious values and teachings upon which their institution is based.
“For me, 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],” Prof. Tamara Kay of the Keough School of Global Affairs told the Rover following the September 21 panel, “Post-Roe America: Making Intersectional Feminist Sense of Abortion Bans.”
Kay used this panel as a platform to explain why she thought abortion bans are ineffective and immoral, complementing her work to bring abortion to Notre Dame students. Her initiatives began after Indiana S.B.1—a law that banned abortion statewide—took effect September 15. She has continued since the law was suspended via injunction by a state judge while litigation takes place.
The letter “J” on office doors denotes Notre Dame professors who are willing to help students access abortion. Kay explained in a social media post, “We are here (as private citizens, not representatives of ND) to help you access healthcare when you need it, and we are prepared in every way. Look for the “J”, Spread the word to students!”
These professors, including Kay, offer help in obtaining both Plan B “morning after” pills and “Plan C” abortion pills, which are efficacious up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Plan B abortion pills have remained legal in Indiana, but they are not offered to students by University Health Services.
In light of the attention Kay has received, The Rover further reports:
Even initially, she claimed to be acting as a private citizen rather than in her capacity as a professor, but Kay further dissociated her Twitter account from Notre Dame during the week of September 26, changing her Twitter name to “Dr. Tamara Kay — Abortion Rights & Policy Scholar,” with her Twitter bio noting, “I don’t speak for my employer (duh!).” Furthermore, the signs on her office door were removed, and all tweets directly referencing abortions for students were deleted.
Emails sent to her Notre Dame email at this time receive the auto-generated response, “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!”
The Roman Catholic Church has consistently condemned abortion. The Catholic News Agency shares, “The direct and purposeful taking of the life of the unborn child. In principle, Catholic Christians believe that all life is sacred from conception until natural death, and the taking of innocent human life, whether born or unborn, is morally wrong. The Church teaches, ‘Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being'(“Donum vitae,” 5).”
Notre Dame purports to be a Catholic institution, though they have a long history of leaning woke.
Members of the student group Tradition Family Property Student Action were told to “cease and desist” promoting traditional marriage on campus and the university called the police on the students.
In 2017, about 100 students walked out of Vice President Mike Pence commencement address, but radical abortion supporter Barrack Obama was invited to speak twice at Notre Dame commencements and received an honorary degree from the institution.
In 2010, The Gateway Pundit reported that Notre Dame Associate Vice-President of Residence Life Bill Kirk was fired by the university for attending a pro-life rally.
Notre Dame has not commented on the controversy.
