Taking the pill without knowing if you're pregnant may not be an abortion, BYU professor argues

A professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) was caught questioning whether or not pregnancy is “black and white” during one of her classes, according to an audio recording obtained by Campus Reform. 

Stephanie Lutz, the professor in question, recently used her HLTH 450: Women’s Health course to promote the concept of “interspace” in pregnancy, the idea that perhaps someone isn’t truly pregnant if they don’t “know” whether they’re pregnant yet. 

“If she had unprotected intercourse before she takes a positive pregnancy test. There’s a pill she can take to just ensure. Like in this interspace, like I don’t want to take a pregnancy test and I kind of don’t want to know if I actually conceived. This pill will just take care of it if I did, and if I didn’t,” Lutz is heard saying during her class. 

She goes on to share with her class that “it feels like a dichotomous situation, like if you are pregnant, or you aren’t pregnant. Black and white, yes or no?”

[RELATED: Pro-life speaker gets cancelled just days before event]

Ashleigh Watts, a previous student of Lutz, came forward to discuss her experiences in her class. 

In response to the audio recording, Watts told Campus Reform that she was “disgusted and saddened.”

“Because I know that science teaches us that life begins at the moment of conception. Not just when it shows up on some store bought test,” Watts said. 

She also revealed that she was taught similar concepts when she took Lutz’s women’s health class back in 2020. 

“There was a specific time where a student in my class chimed in and added that Plan B can be used as a birth control form after the fact. Professor Lutz didn’t shut this down and she continued on the topic acknowledging that it’s a controversial topic. That many women don’t feel it to be a moral issue because the pregnancy wouldn’t show up on a test, and it would be too early to know for sure,” Watts shared. 

[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Scholars push for DEI at mathematics education conference]

Campus Reform also obtained a copy of Lutz’s course syllabus, revealing some “anti-racist” assignments. 

For example, students taking her women’s health course are required to complete a “Lifelong Learners of Anti-Racism Book Review” and attend an “Anti-Racism discussion” in order to complete the course.

“I just found it ironic that she pretty much worshipped Margaret Sanger who founded planned parenthood and essentially led the mass genocide of black children by means of abortion…while also teaching us CRT, about microaggressions, white guilt, and how to be an ‘anti-racist,’” Watts told Campus Reform.

After The Cougar Chronicle, an independent newspaper covering BYU news, tweeted out a link to its coverage of the situation, another professor commented in opposition to the report, arguing that white men cannot have any say on the topic.

Our reporter who covered this is a woman, so…@MikleSouth pic.twitter.com/5saOe0euiY

— The Cougar Chronicle (@TheCougChron) December 21, 2022

“Well, as another white male with no sense for what it’s like to be a woman, or pregnant, or to have white men’s hands all over your body figuratively and physically, you sure have a lot to say on the subject,” BYU Professor Mikle South commented on the tweet.

[RELATED: WATCH: Colleges ‘openly, blatantly disrespect Christian beliefs’]

Jacob Christensen, a Cougar Chronicle writer, argued against the claims made in Lutz’s class. 

“There is no interspace, there is no ambiguity, there is no misunderstanding: abortion is a moral sin,” Christensen told Campus Reform.

He went on to say, “Brigham Young University is a religious institution founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ; standards, morals, values, and beliefs are necessary to be upheld in such a setting. Professor Lutz’s comments are not only wrong, but they are directly contrary to the doctrine of Jesus Christ taught at the university.”

Campus Reform reached out to each party mentioned and this article will be updated accordingly.

Editor’s Note: Thomas Stevenson, a founder of the Cougar Chronicle, is also a Campus Reform correspondent. 

Follow @thelogandubil on Twitter.