In the nine months since ESPN blew the whistle on pro-abortion policies in the NCAA, the Division I Management Council has been forced to do some soul-searching.
Last May, in its “Outside the Lines” report, ESPN interviewed seven athletes from Clemson University who became pregnant during their team’s season. The pressure from the school was so intense that all seven had abortions simply to keep their sports scholarships intact. Athletic director Terry Don Phillips said the policy was not meant to encourage abortions but rather responsible sexual choices.
Unfortunately, the problem is not an isolated one. At the University of Memphis, the girls were asked to sign a statement acknowledging that if they ever became pregnant, they would forfeit their funding.
This month, the NCAA voted to protect students from making the choice between their children and their scholarships. By a 46-5 vote, the Council enacted a new rule, scheduled to go into effect on August 1, which treats pregnancy the same as it treats a “temporary disability”– by allowing recovery time that does not endanger a student’s eligibility.
Thanks to this “maternity leave,” fewer athletes will be coerced into choosing abortion.
Tony Perkins is the president of the Family Research Council. This item originally appeared in the Update that he compiles for the FRC.
