{"id":30736,"date":"2026-02-03T12:04:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=30736"},"modified":"2026-02-03T12:04:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:04:04","slug":"catholics-object-to-notre-dame-appointment-of-pro-abortion-professor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/02\/catholics-object-to-notre-dame-appointment-of-pro-abortion-professor","title":{"rendered":"Catholics Object to Notre Dame Appointment of Pro-Abortion Professor"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_30739\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30739\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/02\/Notre-Dame-Abortion_credit-Joseph-Hendrickson-stockadobecom-Inset-Adobe-Stock.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-30739\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2026\/02\/Notre-Dame-Abortion_credit-Joseph-Hendrickson-stockadobecom-Inset-Adobe-Stock.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30739\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joseph Hendrickson \/ stock.adobe.com | Inset: Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Catholics are balking at a recent faculty assignment from the Catholic Notre Dame University. The university named Professor Susan Ostermann as director of Asian Studies. Ostermann has been an open advocate of abortion, writing op-eds against any attempt to illegalize it. She has called attempts to ban abortion \u201cviolence\u201d and \u201cwhite supremacy.\u201d She has referred to pro-life pregnancy resource centers as \u201canti-abortion rights propaganda sites\u201d and accused them of providing \u201cfalse information.\u201d Ostermann has served at Notre Dame as an associate professor of global affairs at Notre Dame.<\/p>\n<p>Holy Cross Father Wilson Miscamble, a professor emeritus of history at Notre Dame, wrote a <a href=\"https:\/\/firstthings.com\/a-crisis-of-catholic-fidelity-at-notre-dame\/\">scathing condemnation<\/a> of the appointment. \u201cThe University of Notre Dame does not have a problem outlining its ambition to be the world\u2019s leading Catholic university, but it faces perennial problems in fulfilling this goal. It confronts a major test of fidelity to its Catholic mission right now,\u201d wrote Miscamble. \u201cThere can be no dispute that Ostermann stands in stark contrast to fundamental Catholic moral teaching on the sacredness of human life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also noted that an article written by Ostermann for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2022\/12\/05\/tamara-kay-and-susan-ostermann-lies-about-abortion-have-dictated-health-policy\/\"><em>New York Times<\/em><\/a> in 2022 was rebuked by the University\u2019s former president, Fr. John Jenkins, with Jenkins stating the essay \u201c[did] not reflect the views and values of the University of Notre Dame in its tone, arguments or assertions.\u201d Miscamble also criticized Ostermann\u2019s work as a consultant to the Population Council, which focuses on population control. Miscamble highlighted the devastating impacts population control has had on Asian countries like China, where its \u201cOne-Child\u201d policy has caused a huge decline in the female population. Miscamble stated he is appealing to the University\u2019s Board of Fellows to have Ostermann\u2019s appointment rescinded.<\/p>\n<p>The University, for now, has stood by its decision, asserting that Ostermann can keep her own personal opinions separate from her professional capacity. A statement from the University described Ostermann as \u201ca highly regarded political scientist and legal scholar whose insightful research on regulatory compliance \u2014 from forestry conservation in India and Nepal to NSF-funded disaster mitigation in the U.S. territories \u2014 demonstrates the rigorous, interdisciplinary expertise required to lead the Liu Institute.\u201d In a statement, Ostermann asserted her own intention to separate the personal and professional. \u201cI have long worked with scholars who hold diverse views on a multitude of issues, and I welcome the opportunity to continue doing so,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncregister.com\/news\/notre-dame-affirms-appointment-of-abortion-advocate-to-prominent-post\">she wrote<\/a>. \u201cWhile I hold my own convictions on complex social and legal issues, I want to be clear: my role is to support the diverse research of our scholars and students, not to advance a personal political agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Catholics are balking at a recent faculty assignment from the Catholic Notre Dame University. The university named Professor Susan Ostermann as director of Asian Studies. Ostermann has been an open advocate of abortion, writing op-eds against any attempt to illegalize it. She has called attempts to ban abortion \u201cviolence\u201d and \u201cwhite supremacy.\u201d She has referred&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":30739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Catholics Object to Notre Dame Appointment of Pro-Abortion Professor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Catholics push back after Notre Dame appoints an abortion-rights advocate to lead Asian Studies, sparking mission concerns.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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