Texas profs sue Biden admin, claim new Title IX rules would force them to accommodate abortion

On May 13, two professors at the University of Texas at Austin joined the State of Texas’s   lawsuit against the Biden administration over its new interpretative rule of Title IX that, they allege, would unconstitutionally force them to grant absences to students who leave the state for elective abortions.

Professor of Business and Finance, John Hatfield, and Professor of Philosophy, Daniel Bonavac, say they will not allow their students to be excused for having an abortion.

The two professors each write in sworn declarations that they have “no intention of complying with the Biden Administration’s recently announced Title IX edict, which has nothing to do with ‘sex’ discrimination and represents nothing more than an attempt to force every educator in the United States to conform to a highly contentious interpretation of gender ideology and abortion rights.”

[RELATED: Columbia University now offering abortion medication on campus]

The professors’ specific complaint against the Biden administration’s new Title IX interpretation is its definition of “pregnancy or related conditions,” which is a term used in Title IX. Hatfield and Bonavac believe that the administration wrongly interpreted that provision to include “termination of pregnancy.”

“It requires professors to accommodate student absences from class to obtain abortions—including illegal abortions and purely elective abortions that are not medically required,” the professors argue.

The professors are listed with the State of Texas as the plaintiffs in the case against members of the Biden Education Department, including Secretary Miguel Cardona.

“Plaintiffs Hatfield and Bonevac do not intend to accommodate student absences from class to obtain abortions—including illegal abortions and purely elective abortions that are not medically required,” the lawsuit continues. “Nor will Plaintiffs Hatfield and Bonevac hire a teaching assistant who has violated the abortion laws of Texas or the federal-law prohibitions on the shipment or receipt of abortion pills and abortion-related paraphernalia.”

[RELATED: Student ‘praises Jesus’ for abortion at recent Students for Life event]

The lawsuit claims that the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX is an unconstitutional attempt to override Texas’ right to enforce its own laws.

“The Final Rule purports to preempt Texas’ laws by requiring its schools to protect actions that would otherwise violate State law,” the lawsuit states. “This violates Texas’s ‘sovereign interest in the power to create and enforce a legal code.’” 

Abortion is illegal in Texas except in certain circumstances such as to save the life of the mother. 

Campus Reform has contacted UT Austin, Professor John Hatfield, and Professor Daniel Bonavac for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.