Catholic university offers pro-choice internships for students
University of St. Thomas offers students the chance to intern at various pro-choice organizations in Minnesota for credit.
Students can choose to intern at NARAL, Pro-Choice Resources, or NOW-Minnesota.
A Catholic university in Minnesota offers students the chance to intern at various pro-choice organizations for credit, including the state’s National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) chapter.
According to the University of St. Thomas’s (UST) website, the private liberal arts school offers internships at the Minnesota NARAL Foundation, Pro-Choice Resources, and NOW-Minnesota.
NOW, National Organization for Women, is a feminist activism organization that advocates for “reproductive rights” and “lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender rights,” according to its website.
TFP Student Action, a project of project of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, was the first to notice the pro-choice internship options. In screen grabs from the organization, UST also appeared to offer internships with Planned Parenthood.
The Planned Parenthood links have since been removed from the university’s website, and university officials are calling the listing an “error.”
“[T]he internship listing was an error and was removed yesterday, as soon as we became aware of its presence,” Jim Winterer, a UST spokesman, told Campus Reform in an email.
In a statement to Campus Reform, Dr. Julie Sullivan, UST president, said student internships must go through the Office of the Dean before becoming approved.
“The dean has not approved, nor would he approve, academic credit for internships at Planned Parenthood,” Sullivan said.
The university did not comment on whether the other pro-choice internship options were an error as well.
The pro-choice internships are offered as Women’s Studies internships, which count as a four-credit independent study course. Students’ internships are planned with the help of a faculty internship advisor and on-site supervisor.
UST offers other internships at various health providers as well as internships with the Advocates for Human Rights, Rape and Sexual Abuse Center, and Friends for a Non-Violent World, among others.
UPDATE: After publication, Sullivan said in a statement to Campus Reform that the school would not approve any internship involving Planned Parenthood or "abortion organizations."
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