Even from the parking lot of Regis Hall, the debate surrounding abortion is evident. In the fourth floor window a glaring stop sign declares, “Stop abortion now.” On a nearby car, a purple bumper sticker states pro-choice sentiments.
Sexually active men and women seeking condoms, as well as women seeking other forms of contraceptives find themselves at a loss on Catholic campuses. Catholic doctrine is strictly opposed to premarital sex and Catholic schools continue to face difficult choices concerning condom distribution and birth control use.
“There is no organized religion that condones sex outside of marriage,” said Jeanne DiMuzio, director of Wellness and Prevention. “Still, non-Catholic schools face this issue as well. Do they provide birth control to their students and stop unwanted pregnancies and STDs, or do they perpetuate further sexual behavior? It’s a hard choice.”
While Fairfield does not offer contraceptives on campus, the health center will suggest, but not endorse, other means of obtaining birth control.
The health center also counsels any pregnant student on all of the options they have concerning pregnancies. But when it comes to sensitive matters like abortion, officials at Catholic universities nationwide still scramble for answers. Even though Catholic doctrine is firm on the subject, it is still a choice some women at Catholic universities make.
In addition to these services, the Women’s Health Clinic also offers full gynelogical screenings, as well as STD and pregnancy testing. “The Women’s Health Clinic is a comfortable and confidential resource for women on campus,” said Anne Cole, RN, director of the Fairfield University Health Center. “More students should take advantage of it.”
Despite the fact that Fairfield offers more services like this than many other Jesuit institutions, students still expressed mixed views.
“Last year I went to the Health Center because I wanted to go on birth control. When I got there they didn’t provide me with any services, they just gave me the number of Planned Parenthood in Bridgeport,” said a female sophomore, who declined to give her name. “I was a freshman with no car and no means to get there.
“I understand that this is a Catholic school and it follows Catholic principles, but I think that when it comes to the health and safety of its students, there should be some separation between the church and student services,” she added. “A thousand-year-old document is not going to keep kids from having sexual intercourse in this day in age”
Whether or not students agree with the decisions the university makes, some can see why they make the decisions they do. “… The Bible is their rulebook. They kind of have to stick with it no matter what,” said Marisa Caban, ’05.
Abortion and women’s health issues have taken on new meaning recently due to the release of a survey by Catholics for Choice, an abortion rights and pro-contraceptive organization, along with the impending possibility of reversing Roe v. Wade, a 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
In a survey of 133 Catholic universities and colleges in the United States, Catholics for Choice, reported that 82 percent of schools surveyed do not have contraceptives available at their health centers. However, 67 percent of colleges with full service health centers provided comprehensive women’s health exams, including Fairfield University.
According to the report most colleges have “dangerously inadequate” health services. “Catholic universities are at a difficult moment … caught between the desire to be a part of the educational mainstream and the Vatican’s attempts to tighten its grip.”
Perhaps the most surprising findings of the survey were these 16 Catholic schools that reported providing contraceptives on campus. Fairfield University was not one of the 16. When contacted by the Associated Press, three of the 16 schools denied providing birth control on campus.
However, other studies show that this may be becoming a trend. A recent report from the anti-abortion Campaign for Life Coalition also shows that Catholic universities are straying from Ex Corde Ecclesiae, the Vatican’s requirement that all official university actions must be in accord with the Catholic identity.
According to the report, several catholic universities break this code, including DePaul, which offers internships at Planned Parenthood, and Seattle University in Washington, which affiliates itself with such abortion rights groups as the National Organization for Women.
“I’m not aware of any school taking this on with some kind of bravado,” said Michael James, assistant director of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, in an interview with the Associated Press.
“Most students at Catholic colleges expect policies that are consistent with the Catholic doctrine,” James said. “I don’t think any student comes to a Catholic campus thinking this is their forum to change the church.”
Soon, the abortion debate may come to the forefront of government policy as well. President Bush vowed to “protect the rights of innocent children waiting to be born,” earlier this year on the 30th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade.
Although Bush has only expressed the possibility of banning late-term abortions, also called partial-birth abortions, some abortion rights activists fear that this is only the beginning.
Dr. W. David Hager, head of the FDA and a practicing obstetrician-gynecologist, reportedly refused to prescribe birth control to unmarried women in his private practice, and suggested that women who suffer from PMS seek relief through reading the Bible and praying… religious attitudes some fear will cloud his decision making abilities.
The future of reproductive health hangs in limbo, both on college campuses and for the nation as a whole. But for now, Fairfield’s policy is strictly in place.
“If men and women are to choose to engage in sexual activity, it is important for them to know the possible outcomes,” DiMuzio said. “It is important for any institution to have in place educational avenues and support systems for both men and women to be able to make a faith based, totally knowledgeable decision so that unwanted pregnancy, STD’s, etcetera can be prevented so that any student will not be faced with the need to even face the question of terminating an unwanted pregnancy or facing a life threatening illness.”
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