Catholic college's web site: contact Planned Parenthood for abortion information; PR coordinator ripped ‘papist apologists’

December 10, 2009

The web site of a Catholic college in Montana advises students who wish to obtain an abortion to contact Planned Parenthood.

“How can I obtain an abortion?” asks an anonymous "ask-a-nurse" advice column for Carroll College students. The response-- “thoughtfully prepared by Health Services”-- is

Carroll College does not offer abortion counseling based on its Catholic Tradition. There is a Planned Parenthood in Helena or you can talk with any health care provider concerning your options.

In addition, the college’s official “Summer Job Finding Guide” asks students to consider applying for employment at Planned Parenthood.

In 2005, a controversy erupted at the college after a Planned Parenthood representative was invited to be part of a panel discussion on end-of-life issues. When the college’s president withdrew the invitation, “many members of the faculty, as well as others, voiced their concern that this act limited academic freedom,” according to a college report to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

In 2004, Ashley Oliverio-- then and now the college’s public relations coordinator-- blasted the Cardinal Newman Society [CNS] and “other Papist apologists” for criticizing the school’s association with the Vagina Monologues.

“I am one of the 14 local actresses who will buck the Catholic Taliban by co-starring in the Helena ‘Vagina Monologues’ production, and as an American, a lawyer, a Catholic and a spiritual person, I am proud to do so,” wrote Ms. Oliverio. “I auditioned for a role in direct response to the medieval ravings of the CNS and its sheep who have assailed this and other colleges with hostile letters revealing their utter ignorance of the play or the issues involved, foremost of which is the CNS’s own hostility toward women and the free marketplace of ideas.”

Founded in 1909 by the Diocese of Helena, the college has 1,409 students, all of them undergraduates.

UPDATE: The text of "Pregnancy Options" and the text of "The Carroll College Summer Job Finding Guide" have been removed from Carroll College's web site.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Pregnancy Options (Carroll College)
• The Carroll College Summer Job Finding Guide (p. 17)
• NWCCU Progress Report (2009, p. 4)
• Montana Catholic College Boots Pro-Abortion Planned Parenthood Speaker (LifeNews.com, 2005)
• Who's afraid of the 'Catholic Taliban'? (Queen City News)
• Dean at Pittsburgh Catholic college worked for Planned Parenthood (CWN, 12/9)