Arlington, VA - On February 15th, the U.S. Department of Education answered Congresswoman Virginia Foxx’s October Letter of Inquiry, which was prompted by an August Students for Life of America campaign at the University of North Carolina. The letter asked the Department if they were aware of the abortion coverage included in the University of North Carolina System’s mandatory student health care policy and if they could prove that taxpayer funds were not paying for the abortion coverage.

In the Department’s response, the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan wrote, “…the Department has not issued any regulations, guidance, or other official policy with regard to the Hyde amendment, nor has the Department relayed any information regarding the Hyde Amendment to colleges and universities that participate in the Title IV and HEA programs.”

Upon the receipt of the letter, Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director of Students for Life of America (SFLA), commented,

“The Department of Education is not upholding federal law which clearly states that taxpayer money is not to be used to pay for elective abortions. By not providing oversight, the Department of Education is allowing taxpayer money to fund elective student abortions at the University of North Carolina as well as in dozens of others universities across the country. Abortion is not health care and should not be a pre-requisite for learning.”

In August, Students for Life of America discovered that the UNC System was automatically enrolling their students in a health care plan that covered elective abortions. After working with UNC students and leading an effective grassroots campaign, SFLA forced the UNC Administration to modify its policy and allow students to “opt-out” of the abortion coverage. SFLA is continuing to coordinate with pro-life students at UNC to work towards eliminating their abortion health care coverage .

In January, SFLA released a health care study of the 200 largest universities in the US. Of the 200 schools, 194 had school-sponsored health care plans for students. Eighty-six (44%) of the 194 school sponsored plans covered elective abortions, and 38 schools automatically enrolled their students in an abortion health care plan. To view the full study, visit http://noabortioninhealthcare.com.

For more information about taxpayer-funded student abortions, visit the SFLA site: http://noabortioninhealthcare.com.

To speak with Kristan Hawkins about the Department of Education Response Letter or the SFLA University Abortion Health Care Study, contact Mary Powers, Communications Director at Students for Life, at mpowers@studentsforlife.org or by phone: 703-351-6280.

Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director of Students for Life of America, the largest pro-life student organization in the nation, has been featured on Fox News and CNN and has had articles featured in The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, The Washington Examiner as well as in many other publications.

Students for Life of America (SFLA) works to provide students, from high school to graduate school, with the resources they need to save lives and abolish abortion on their campuses and throughout the nation with 563 pro-life college groups in 48 states.