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Catholic University of America removes abortion from health plan

Contacted Aetna only after College Fix report

The Catholic University of America apologized for including abortion in its health coverage plan for students for three years. It said it has contacted provider Aetna to make the change.

The change came after The College Fix published a story about the D.C. university’s inclusion of abortion coverage for the past three years. The university told The Fix after publication of the first article that it did not “provide abortion in [the] health plan.”

“The Catholic University of America is committed to defending life at every stage, and we work hard to live out that commitment in all aspects of University operations. For our student and staff health plans, we have always excluded abortion from coverage,” Karnoa Lozoya told The College Fix via email on November 10.

She explained what happened:

A few years ago our health insurance provider for our student health plan (Aetna) made a blanket change to their plans to add limited exceptions to the abortion exclusion — in the case of rape, incest, and if the life of the mother is in danger. Unfortunately, we failed to catch the modification. The change was not intentional on our part. Our health insurance plan for staff never included these exceptions. As a result of our direct communications with Aetna, they have removed all exceptions to the comprehensive exclusion of abortion coverage from our student health plan, and we have removed the plan from our website. An amended plan will be available soon, and it will be explicit that abortion is excluded from coverage. The Catholic University of America apologizes for the error.

The Fix had previously asked how it went unnoticed for three years and if someone is responsible for reviewing insurance policies.

CUA’s error in allowing abortion for three years sadly still makes it more pro-life than other Catholic universities that offer abortion — and worse.

Students at the University of San Diego who want to chop off their genitals or cut off their breasts can get financial support through the school’s health plan.

Its health plan covers abortion, “gender reassignment surgery,” sterilization and contraception, all medical procedures deemed immoral by the Catholic Church.

The California Catholic university previously told The College Fix that it has to cover those services because of state and federal law. But a university spokesperson never told The Fix what laws require it.

And Catholic University of America’s exclusion of all of those services from its plan calls into serious question the validity of the claim that federal law requires the University of San Diego to cover those procedures.

MORE: Fordham University pays for student abortions

IMAGE: CUA/YouTube

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About the Author
Associate Editor
Matt has previously worked at Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action and Turning Point USA. While in college, he wrote for The College Fix as well as his college newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix. He holds a B.A. from Loyola University-Chicago and an M.A. from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He lives in northwest Indiana with his family.