The Holy War Against One Pro-Abortion-Rights Professor

Students and faculty returned to the University of Notre Dame campus for the fall semester as the state of Indiana was gearing up to implement a near-total abortion ban. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority, including South Bend’s own Amy Coney Barrett, had just overturned Roe v. Wade in June. The rollback of women’s rights weighed heavily on Tamara Kay’s mind when she learned that a student had been assaulted in August. Kay, a sociology and global-affairs professor who is both Catholic and a vocal supporter of abortion rights, thought of her time as a rape crisis counselor during her undergraduate days. “When people called the 24-hour hotline, one of the first questions they often asked was, ‘What if I’m pregnant?’” she recalls. She looked into what kind of support faculty could offer the student and was horrified that the school’s health clinic wouldn’t offer emergency contraception to sexual-assault victims.

Angry and scared for the young women on campus, Kay decided that she needed to do something. On a warm Thursday evening in September, she put up a poster on her office door reading, “This is a SAFE SPACE to get help and information on ALL Healthcare issues and access — confidentially with care and compassion.” The sign was up for ten days. Then, in mid-October, a single deceptive headline appeared in a conservative student publication that would set in motion a monthslong campaign of harassment against Kay. “Keough School Professor Offers Abortion Access to Students,” blared The Irish Rover. The article spread like wildfire in the right-wing media ecosystem.

Mondays are tough, so here are nine small ways to make your life better, today and every day. Understanding what the hell’s going on with train derailments in the U.S. If the public response to the new Harry Potter video game was truly a referendum on J.K. Rowling, she won. At least one of her business ventures isn’t thriving, though. The top-ranked countries for safety for female solo travelers might surprise you. An Indigenous tattooist in the Philippines is Vogue’s oldest ever cover star at 106.​ Further proof (as if we needed any) that Republicans like Ron DeSantis do not care about keeping Americans, young or old, safe from gun violence. But wait, there’s more! More bullshit out of Florida, that is. Here, have some good news for the road.

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