Petition urges Marquette to cut ties with pro-abortion club
More than 15,000 people have joined a pro-life student organization that is urging Marquette University to sever ties with Marquette Empowerment, a pro-abortion student group.
Tradition, Family, Property (TFP) Student Action, an organization that promotes traditional values, launched an online petition in late June outlining four “scandals” related to Marquette Empowerment and arguing that “no Catholic campus should ever recognize or fund a pro-abortion club.”
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According to the petition, the first scandal consists of the fact that Marquette is “going against its Catholic mission” by recognizing a pro-abortion club that is eligible to “receive university funding.”
“Marquette Empowerment pushes the abortion agenda,” the petition states under the second “scandal,” referencing a January tweet in which the activist group shared an illustration that read “it’s okay to have an abortion.”
“Abortion is healthcare,” Marquette Empowerment tweeted at the time. “It is normal and okay to have an abortion. You can talk about it publicly if you want to. We support you. We stand with you.”
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“Marquette Empowerment hosted an event on campus titled ‘Learn about abortion access in Wisconsin’ on April 16,” the petition continues in its next charge. “The guest speaker was Lucy Marshall who works for Women’s Medical Fund, which boasts of having paid 2,504 mothers to ‘follow through on their decision to have an abortion.’”
The final “scandal” highlights MU Empowerment’s endorsement of the “pro-homosexual ‘Pride Prom 2018’ on the Catholic campus,” arguing that the event “not only trampled on God’s law and centuries of Catholic teaching, but also attacked natural law.”
TFP Student Action Director John Ritchie further challenged the university for backing Marquette Empowerment in an article on TFP’s website, asking if the school will “respect the right to life and stand by its Catholic identity?”
As of Monday, the petition had accumulated over 15,000 signatures, surpassing its original goal of 10,000 supporters.
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Former Marquette for Life President Anna DeMeuse told Campus Reform that she “found it particularly important to try to get to know the leadership of Marquette Empowerment in order to better understand the animosity toward pro-life students on campus,” but said her outreach was repeatedly rebuffed.
“It was quickly made very clear after each encounter that MU Empowerment was not able to respectfully converse,” she recalled. “I sincerely hope that one day their leadership will be able to come to the table and respectfully engage in fruitful conversation with those whom they disagree with.”
Marquette Empowerment bills itself as the school’s “ONLY intersectional feminist organization for women, men, and nonbinary folks who strive to combat injustices concerning ALL PEOPLE,” and focuses on issues such as “misogyny, transphobia, heterosexism, slut-shaming, victim blaming, cissexism, classism, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, ableism, racism, and any other form of bigotry.”
Neither Marquette University nor Marquette Empowerment have responded to Campus Reform’s requests for comment.
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