Disbanded group at Catholic university drops 'Planned Parenthood' name to restart

A student-run 'reproductive rights' organization at DePaul University — a Catholic institution — has reopened itself under a different name after the school shut it down earlier this year due to its affiliation with Planned Parenthood.

Key Takeaways:

• DePaul University administration disbanded the student-run Planned Parenthood Generation Action group in the spring of 2025 because it was in conflict with Catholic teaching.

• The group has now restarted under a new name after dropping its 'Planned Parenthood' moniker.

• Though it has changed nothing other than its name, the group's leaders say they are working closely with administration to receive official status as a campus organization again.

The Details:

According to the university's student-run newspaper, The DePaulia, the school's Office of Student Involvement disbanded Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA) in spring 2025, after "university officials said the organization is directly in conflict with DePaul’s 'Catholic, Vincentian values'."

The student group has now rebranded itself as Students United for Reproductive Justice at DePaul; though it has removed the Planned Parenthood title from its name, nothing else appears to have changed. The group's Instagram account still identifies itself as "FORMERLY Planned Parenthood Generation Action."

It appears that since it has dropped the Planned Parenthood moniker, it can resume its status as a campus-approved organization — despite the fact that many of the things it promotes, including abortion, contraceptives, and sex outside of marriage, clearly violate Catholic teaching.

“We cover topics such as BDSM, sexual assault, reproductive rights, anatomy, sexual dysfunction, and relationships from a psychological, sociological, and biological perspective,” explained Lil Bauer, coordinator for Pillowtalk, the group’s sex education lecture series. “We try to make these confusing and taboo topics approachable for people coming from all different levels of sex education.”

The group said that though it doesn't yet have full university approval, it is "working closely with administration to become a registered student organization, but we fully plan to have off campus events, including our annual craft fair.”

“Currently, we do not have fully operational status as a student organization, meaning we are unable to have a DeHub page at this time or reserve spaces on campus,” explained the group's organizers. “However, we are working with the Office of Student Involvement to restore our club status and privileges, ideally by winter quarter.”  

“I am excited to continue fighting for reproductive rights and providing resources in spite of the many setbacks our club has faced,” Lucia Manning, the group’s marketing director, told The DePaulia. “We are the same group of people as we were before, and we’re not going anywhere.”

The Bottom Line:

Whether it has the Planned Parenthood title or not, no group that promotes abortion and sexual promiscuity should be allowed on a Catholic campus.