Catholic U cans professor who brought 'abortion doula' to lecture on men giving birth
Former psychology professor Melissa Goldberg has been terminated after inviting a self-described 'abortion doula' to lecture to students.
The guest speaker reportedly discussed 'seahorse birth,' which she said is when a man gives birth.
A professor at the Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. has been terminated for inviting a pro-abortion professional, whose work also includes aiding allegedly pregnant men, to address students during a class.
On Jan. 30, President Peter Kilpatrick reportedly emailed the school community saying that the institution initiated an investigation the previous week after receiving reports about the invitation of an abortion advocate to address a class. CUA also claims to have obtained an audio recording of the speaker’s presentation from a student in the class.
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“Now that we have clear evidence that the content of the class did not align with our mission and identity, we have now terminated our contract with the professor who invited the speaker,” Kilpatrick wrote.
The fired CUA instructor has since been identified as former professor of psychology, Melissa Goldberg. As of Tuesday afternoon, Goldberg’s faculty page was no longer accessible on the university website, as reported by the National Catholic Register.
According to The Daily Signal, Goldberg invited self-proclaimed “abortion doula,” Rachel Carbonneau, to address her “Lifespan Development” class, which stirred unease among students.
Felipe Avila, a 20-year-old nursing student, expressed discomfort in an interview with The Daily Signal, stating that the essence of the course was understanding human development from “conception to natural death,” yet the speaker counseled women on terminating life.
Avila also told The Daily Signal that he noticed a clash with the school’s religious commitments when Carbonneau used terms like “birthing persons” and “pregnant person.”
In the audio recording, Carbonneau mentioned working with “trans clients,” highlighting instances of men giving birth, which she referred to as “seahorse birth.”
“As a Catholic institution, we are committed to promoting the full truth of the human person and to protecting human life from conception to natural death. In our rigorous pursuit of truth and justice, we engage at times with arguments or ideologies contrary to reason or to the Gospel,” President Kilpatrick wrote in a statement regarding Professor Goldberg’s dismissal, as noted by the National Catholic Register.
“But we do so fully confident in the clarity given by the combined lights of reason and faith, and we commit to never advocate for sin or to give moral equivalence to error,” he continued.
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“The guest speaker will not be speaking again to the class, and we are re-communicating the terms and expectations by which all outside speakers are vetted and invited,” the university said in a separate statement to The Daily Signal.
Campus Reform has contacted the Catholic University of America and Melissa Goldberg for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
