Pro-life students start petition to stop Planned Parenthood President visiting Georgetown
They called the visit ‘a slap in the face’
A petition against Georgetown hosting Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards has gained over 7,000 signatures in two days, the creator has claimed.
The Cardinal Newman society created the petition to call for Georgetown to “restore the Catholic identity and fidelity that once were the foundation of America’s oldest Catholic university, but which have been diminished and even scorned in recent decades. May Georgetown once again be a beacon of light for students seeking truth in the Light of Christ.”
Pro-life demonstrators called the visit “a slap in the face”. In a statement they said: “Our school community is a thriving and enriching one — our Jesuit values animate our campus, inspiring us to care for the whole person and celebrate life and all its beauty. The ‘throw away culture,’ in the words of Pope Francis, that Ms. Richards endorses is neither consistent with our values nor our school character.
“Planned Parenthood is our nation’s largest abortion provider, performing [over 320,000] abortions in 2015 alone. This event featuring Planned Parenthood’s president, which would be unprecedented for a Catholic school of Georgetown’s stature, stands in direct contrast to our school’s mission and our Catholic and Jesuit identity,” the students continued.“This invite is a slap in the face to all that we stand for, and we hope Georgetown reconsiders.
“This speaker’s complete lack of respect for the dignity of human life, as someone who proudly proclaims to ‘shout your abortion,’ is unbecoming of our university. We can and must do better.”
Georgetown have defended their invitation to Cecile Richards as part of the “free exchange of ideals”.
Earlier this month, we were voted one of the worst campuses in the US for freedom of speech.