After proudly proclaiming that she was “sticking her neck out” to advocate for abortion, Tamara Kay, a Notre Dame professor in the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Sociology Department, may now have to pay opposing counsel’s fees and costs for her failed lawsuit against two student journalists.
The students were involved in publishing an article for The Irish Rover, a newspaper administered by Notre Dame students which highlighted her pro-abortion activism. According to a ruling released on January 8, 2024, by Senior Judge, Steven H. David, counsel representing the students are entitled to “petition the court” for a “hearing on attorney fees and costs.”
Such a petition for a hearing will likely reference the lack of evidence presented by the tenured professor to back her legal assertions of defamation for their published article.
READ: Notre Dame refuses to sponsor pro-life event, hosts pro-abortion event same night
In particular, the court ruled that Professor Kay provided “no evidence” that she was only publicly advocating for health care access for sexually assaulted students and not abortion in general (Finding no. 31), “no evidence” that any vandalism to her property was connected to the published articles (Finding no. 107), “no evidence” that purportedly threatening e-mails were related to the published articles (Finding no. 109), “no evidence” that “The Irish Rover’s intention when it published the Articles was to damage Dr. Kay’s career, nor was it malicious or reckless” (Finding no. 111), and many other failures to prove her case. An Indiana law protecting free speech was utilized by the Court to dismiss her lawsuit.
“Filing a frivolous lawsuit against students exercising their rights under the First [Amendment] should be grounds for revoking tenure,” some have remarked, such as “Jerseyerg” in the thread of an online National Review article.
The Notre Dame professor was exposed in 2022, when author W. Joseph DeReuil revealed public statements and articles made by Kay in favor of abortion. When abortion was briefly banned in Indiana, she also posted a placard on her office door indicating that she would help women obtain abortions or abortion inducing drugs.
“This is a SAFE SPACE to get help and information on ALL Healthcare issues and access — confidentially with care and compassion,” the note stated, with the professor’s non-Notre Dame e-mail address attached. She also spread the word on social media for everyone to “Look for the ‘J’, Spread the word to students!” — a reference to a secret signal to students that she or other professors would support or help provide abortion access.
According to the court opinion, Notre Dame’s official position on life is “consistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church on such issues as abortion, research involving human embryos, euthanasia, the death penalty, and other related life issues” and “the University of Notre Dame recognizes and upholds the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.”
