Catholic Georgetown U. to fund student internships at abortion agencies

Washington D.C., Sep 27, 2007 / 08:18 am

The oldest Catholic university in the nation has changed its policy to permit grants to law students who intern with abortion agencies, such as Planned Parenthood.
 
Law Center Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff of Georgetown University announced the policy change Sept. 7 in a letter published in the Law Center's student newspaper. It was reported in The Hoya, the Georgetown University newspaper.

The decision came after the Law Center got flack from pro-abortion students and faculty for directing student group Equal Justice Foundation to refuse funding to a student who applied 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. 

"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 Law Center's pro-abortion group, Law Students for Choice, was pleased with the decision. She said 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."

Daniel Hughes, president of the Law Center's pro-life group - "Progressive Alliance for Life" - said plainly that the Catholic University was now funding abortion advocacy.

"Aleinikoff has a radically secular, morally relativistic vision for the Law Center," Hughes said in an e-mail to The Hoya. "He and other administrators have crafted a dishonest, legalistic 'compromise' that will allow students to gain assured, extensive Georgetown funding for pro-abortion legal work."