The Truth About Life: A Response to Notre Dame Professors Kay and Ostermann

The evidence that life begins at conception is so preponderant that to deny this fact is to deny science.

On Dec. 5, two of my colleagues at the University of Notre Dame, Tamara Kay and Susan Ostermann, both on the faculty of the Keough School of Global Affairs, published on op-ed in the Chicago Tribune purporting to refute “lies,” “intentional misinformation,” and “utter falsities,” that have served to “erode access to abortion” in the United States. 

The day after, Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins, President of the University of Notre Dame, published a letter to the editor to the Tribune stating: 

… Tamara Kay and Susan Ostermann are, of course, free to express their opinions on our campus or in any public forum. Because they chose to identify themselves as Notre Dame faculty members, I write to state unequivocally that their essay does not reflect the view and values of the University of Notre Dame in its tone, arguments or assertions.

As a professor at Notre Dame who teaches about justice about politics, including global affairs, I wish to exercise the same freedom. I consider one of the four “lies” my colleagues allege: “abortion kills babies,” as they put it. They write that “almost 90% of abortions occur during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy when there are no babies or fetuses.” The truth is that babies begin at conception and has great consequences for justice.

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