Alina Thopurathu is a now-former student at Springfield who was attending the famous private college as a physician’s assistant candidate. She is seeking $500,000 in damages, according to a Campus Reform story.
Dr. Ingrid Skop of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, who is familiar with the ethics involved in medical care, says it was within the student's right to do so.
"Even under Biden, where the administration was really trying to press a pro-abortion agenda,” Skop explains, “the solicitor general did acknowledge that no health care professional can be compelled to participate in abortion against their religious beliefs."
According to the lawsuit, Thopurathu was required to watch a second-trimester abortion in 2022 during a clinical rotation. When she refused and spoke out, a “campaign” was launched against her and she was dismissed from the program despite being a top student, the defendant alleges.
It's not clear from the Campus Reform story what “feedback” Springfield received from the Catholic student to make her a target.
Springfield College is famous for its affiliation with the YMCA during the 1880s which it maintained until it was renamed Springfield College in 1954.
It is also famous as the birthplace of basketball, in 1891, when it was known as the School for Christian Workers.
Dr. Skop tells AFN that Thopurathu should be praised for pushing back and speaking out, because that is the only way to stand up for your beliefs.
"The pro-abortion academic profession has been empowered,” she says. “They've been able to bully students for far too long.”
