Students join stand against abortion

  The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has ruled that Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, violated the rights of its women employees. The decision is based on the university’s health package not covering birth control or abortion. The EEOC said, “By denying prescription contraception drugs, [the college] is discriminating based on gender because only females take oral prescription contraceptives. By denying coverage, men are not affected, only women.”
  William K. Theirfelder, Belmont’s president, said that rather than providing contraceptives, “We would close the college.”
  A senior in the school said, “We here at the Abbey pray the conflict may be resolved in a respectful and peaceful way, and in the meantime, we will continue to support and cherish human life in all its forms.”
  “People need to wake up!” stated Michael Barnett, director of American Life League’s leadership development and  LiveCampus college outreach program. “Under Obama, the federal government is forcing a religious institution to commit an act that violates its core values. This is religious persecution and a clear signal of what Obamacare would bring.”
  Students in support of Belmont come from the University of Dallas, Franciscan University of Steubenville, De Salves University and Catholic University of America. Martha McAdams, a student from the University of Dallas and president of Texas Students for Life, said, “At the University of Dallas, as at most Catholic universities, abortion is purposely not included in the university provided health insurance because it goes against a natural belief that all human life is precious.”
  These students and staff are working to get the EEOC’s ruling overturned.
  www.all.org, 8/19/09