Some of the organizations partners are the Ford Foundation, which is a supporter of expanding abortion programs, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, among other organizations in other topic areas.
The National Women's Law Center also addresses other areas of law regarding women, including equal pay laws, maternity leave, elimination of discrimination against pregnant women, sexual harassment, early childcare education, poverty support for struggling families, and fighting discrimination in the workplace against mothers of young children.
Georgetown University Law Center said in a statement to CNA that the class "is an optional course" and is part of a broad education and emphasized that the "practicum will explore a number of issues," including eating disorders, maternity coverage, and other topics.
The university also stressed that "there are no assignments pertaining to abortion, and certainly no requirement that students adhere to a particular set of beliefs."
"Georgetown University embraces academic freedom and supports the free exchange of ideas in order to foster dialogue on critical issues of the day – such as issues relating to the Affordable Care Act," Georgetown University Law Center continued.
"The issues discussed in this class, or any class, do not imply any institutional endorsement of a particular course of action."
It is unclear whether students will be able to choose to work on a project related to abortion or contraception for the final practical project.
As of the publishing of this article, the Archdiocese of Washington was not able to comment on the class or the instructor to CNA, saying that they would look more into the situation.
Severino explained that while students may not be forced to assist directly in abortion-related activities, it is "still disheartening to see a Catholic school offering a platform for an organization that is diametrically opposed to the Church on abortion, contraception, and religious liberty."
She explained that the "language of the course description may sound potentially neutral, but the content is almost certainly not."
The National Women's Law Center "has been active in promoting and defending the HHS contraception/abortifacient mandate," Severino said, adding that the mandate "not only will increase the use of drugs that the Church teaches do violence to both women and their children, but it also is being used to force religious organizations and Catholic business owners to pay for contraceptives and abortifacients or pay crushing penalties."
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
"The course description is about learning regulatory advocacy in health care, and the HHS Mandate is precisely the type of regulation the NWLC is advocating."
"It is outrageous that Georgetown is employing a professor whose agenda is specifically focused on increasing abortions, even when that comes at the expense of religious freedom," Severino said.
"What is key here is also that this is not an issue of a Georgetown professor whose personal beliefs do not line up with (the) Church – there are surely many of those as can be expected in a large university. But this course appears to be designed specifically to teach Georgetown students how to advocate for contraception and abortion and against religious freedom."
Adelaide Mena was the DC Correspondent for Catholic News Agency until 2017 and is a 2012 graduate of Princeton University.