The Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles, California is set to host a fundraiser for the country's biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, this Friday, November 5 at the Catholic University's Roski Dining Hall.
The event is described by the organizers, the Women in Politics LMU organization as an opportunity to raise funds "for a cause we really care about." The Friday event will be held in the campus of the Catholic university, which is sponsored by the Society of Jesus Jesuits, the Marymount Sisters of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.
Breitbart reached out to LMU on the fundraiser for abortion provider Planned Parenthood, to which the Catholic university clarified, "The fundraiser being hosted by Women in Politics is not a university-sponsored event." The school added that "the existence of these student organizations and their activities are living examples that LMU embraces its mission, commitments, and the complexities of free and honest discourse."
The Catholic university is now under fire for the upcoming event, with pro-life advocates calling for the cancellation of the event. RenewLMU, which described itself as a coalition of students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors, and more who hope to "strengthen LMU's Catholic mission and identity," had launched a petition to cancel the upcoming Planned Parenthood event, Angelus reported.
In a petition sent by RenewLMU to the Catholic university's president Tim Snyder, the group led by LMU alumna Samantha Stephenson accused Planned Parenthood of being involved in the "illegal sale of fetal tissues" and being "complicit in sex trafficking." They also urged the fundraiser's sponsor, LMU Women in Politics, to go for a "more worthy recipient of funds, one that more effectively supports women's dignity and whose primary purposes are not at odds with the Catholic Church."
Calling the decision to host a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood on a campus of a Catholic university as "divisive," the group said that such an event was not "an academic debate but a fundraiser" which meant that LMU was gathering funds and making an "in-kind donation" to Planned Parenthood, which is responsible for upwards of 350,000 abortions between 2018 and 2019 alone, as per the Lozier Institute.
According to Angelus, Stephenson admitted that she reached out to the LMU Women in Politics student group and university administrators to be enlightened on what their understanding of Planned Parenthood was, as she wanted to "give them the benefit of the doubt" and recommend a "more worthy organization" to donate funds to.
But Stephenson never heard back from them. She lamented that "as a Catholic university, LMU has the a responsibility to stand up for Catholic values." She added that if the school wanted to funds for "women's advancement in the Catholic context," they should have done so for "one of the many organizations that work for similar causes without being implicated in abortions and the sale of fetal tissue."
