Jesuit-affiliated Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH, appears to list abortion on its student health insurance plan. The university maintains that it does not cover abortion.
“[Xavier’s] plan not only appears to cover abortion – it looks like the school specifically added it into the coverage,” Hope College student William Hurley wrote in The College Fix Tuesday.
“A ‘policy endorsement’ on the plan appeared to delete an ‘exclusion’ of abortion,” Hurley indicated:
The plan lists abortion as a “Non-EHB [Essential Health Benefit] added to plan via additional endorsement.” It includes, like other covered benefits, the amount the plan pays for in-network and out-of-network providers.
…
“Benefits will be paid at the benefits levels indicated in the schedule of benefits,” the endorsement states.
The “policy endorsement” in question “appears to be signed by university President Colleen Hanycz,” added Hurley.
An Xavier public relations employee denied that the plan covered abortion when he was asked by the Fix.
“He said ‘nothing has changed regarding this policy from previous years,’” Hurley noted. The employee also claimed that “there are few enrollees in the plan.”
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Last month, Xavier spokesman David Hamilton told the Fix: “The confusion regarding the wording is definitely understandable — but again, the answer to your question is, no, elective abortions are not a covered benefit under the policy.”
A PDF of the plan linked in Hurley’s article mentions abortion a total of nine times.
“Benefits for therapeutic abortion are provided only when the therapeutic abortion is performed: To save the life of the mother [or] [a]s a result of a case of rape or incest,” the plan states under its “Medical Expense Benefits” section.
An April 2022 post to Xavier Students For Life’s X (then known as Twitter) account featured a picture of three members of the student pro-life group meeting with President Hanycz.
So glad for the opportunity to meet with @PrezHanycz today to discuss ways of promoting an open dialogue of the life issues on campus, as well as ways to build a culture of life and serve the most vulnerable in our community! #AllForOne #LetsGoX pic.twitter.com/rp7WSDWwWl
— Xavier Students For Life (@xustudents4life) April 6, 2022
“So glad for the opportunity to meet with [Hanycz] today to discuss ways of promoting an open dialogue of the life issues on campus, as well as ways to build a culture of life and serve the most vulnerable in our community!” the post states.
Hanycz is the first lay president in Xavier’s 193-year history. She previously served as president of two other Catholic institutions of higher education: La Salle University in Philadelphia, and Brescia University College in London, Ontario, Canada.
Her profile page on the Jesuit university’s website declares: “President Hanycz has been an active proponent of Catholic education as a means to advance the common good and to celebrate the dignity of each person, and will continue this commitment in a Jesuit setting at Xavier.”
Readers can find Hurley’s full article in The College Fix here.
LifeNews Note: Joshua Mercer writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
