Catholic university's new vice provost is former chair of abortion provider

The University of San Francisco has appointed the board chair of a clinic that provides both abortion pills and contraceptives to serve as their vice provost of student life.

The Jesuit university announced the appointment of Julie Orio as the new vice-provost of student life in a press release on July 27th, citing among other credentials her “active” involvement as the board member and chair at the Women’s Community Clinic in San Francisco.

“Orio has served as interim vice provost of student life at USF since August 2015, where she has led a team of approximately 140 full-time professionals and 25 graduate students to enliven the university’s Jesuit mission,” the announcement states. “Beyond her responsibilities at USF, since 2006 she has been actively involved in the Women’s Community Clinic in San Francisco, serving as board member and chair.”

California Catholic Daily reports, however, that the Women’s Community Clinic provides both “emergency contraception” and “medication abortion”, two things that directly contradict Catholic doctrine.

The Clinic states on its website that a medication abortion “is a way to terminate an early pregnancy by using medications. It’s often called the ‘abortion pill’, and it’s an option for women during their first ten weeks of pregnancy.”

This is not the first time that USF partnered with the WCC. In 2010, the university faced criticism for making Dr. Eve Zaritsky, then-Medical Director of the Women’s Community Clinic, a featured speaker at its 2010 Global Women’s Rights Forum.

Campus Reform reached out to USF for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

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