Pro-abortion professor steps down from director position at Notre Dame

In January, Notre Dame University announced Susan Ostermann, who is openly pro-abortion, would be the new director of the Asian Studies Institute at Notre Dame beginning on July 1. After widespread backlash from faithful Catholics, Ostermann has announced she will not take the position.

Key Takeaways:

• Ostermann is an associate professor of global affairs at Notre Dame and was named the director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

• The promotion was set to take effect this summer.

• Notre Dame is a Catholic university, and Ostermann is an open advocate for abortion, of which the Catholic Church is opposed.

• There was immediate backlash to Ostermann's promotion, including from bishops, staff, and students.

• Ostermann has now announced she will not accept the position.

The Backstory:

In January, the University of Notre Dame announced that Ostermann had been chosen to lead the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies. Her primary area of focus is political science, specifically in Asia, and she was lauded as an "exceptional scholar" and a "deeply engaged teacher." Yet Ostermann is also known for being an abortion activist, writing multiple pro-abortion essays with Tamara Kay, another pro-abortion Notre Dame professor.

These essays argued that attempts to outlaw abortion equal white supremacy, and that so-called "forced birth" is violence against women and "traumatic sexual abuse." Ostermann has also worked with the Population Council, the eugenic organization that brought the abortion pill to the United States.

After Ostermann's promotion was made public, there was immediate backlash.

Both students and staff spoke out, with some even resigning in protest. There were also numerous Catholic bishops who condemned the appointment, arguing that it violated the university's supposed Catholic values.

The Details:

Ostermann has released a statement saying she would not accept the position due to the outcry from faithful Catholics. Mary Gallagher, dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs, announced the resignation in an e-mail, according to the Observer, a campus newspaper.

“Professor Susan Ostermann, a member of the Keough School faculty who was recently appointed director of the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, has decided not to move forward as director,” Gallagher wrote. “I am grateful for her willingness to serve and for the thoughtfulness with which she approached this decision.”

READ: The Catholic Church is correct in not letting the abortion issue slide

Ostermann also shared a statement of her own in the e-mail, in which she puzzlingly referenced the need to fight for human dignity:

My only goal in accepting the Liu Institute Directorship was to serve as a steward for the Institute’s world-class faculty, students and staff; it is not a position I applied for, but I was truly honored to take it on. At present, the focus on my appointment risks overshadowing the vital work the Institute performs, which it should be allowed to pursue without undue distraction. At the same time, it has become clear that there is work to do at Notre Dame to build a community where a variety of voices can flourish. Both academic inquiry and the full realization of human dignity demand this of us.

The Bottom Line:

Human dignity first and foremost demands protecting the inherent right to life, and Notre Dame — as a Catholic institution — should uphold that.