Secular Pro-Life
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet The Team
    • Mission and Vision
    • Stances
      • Abortion
      • Religion
      • Contraception
      • The Rape Exception
  • Content
    • Index
    • Blog
    • Myths
    • Research
      • Abortion Law and Abortion Rates
      • Abortion Law and Pregnancy Rates
      • Later Abortion
      • Embryonic Hearts
      • Abortion Views and Gender
    • Collections
      • For the biology textbook tells me so
      • Fixed that meme for you
      • They can hear you
      • Parents can hear you
      • Our children’s heartbeats
      • Becoming Pro-Life
    • Publications
      • Overview Brochure
      • Why Secular People Should Care
    • Store
  • Contact
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Donor Opportunities
    • Why support SPL?
  • Donate
  • Menu Menu

Heroic student ends pregnancy discrimination at her alma mater

September 20, 2016/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Kelsey Hazzard
Kamaria and Ryann; photo via Public Justice

Kamaria Downs, the heroine of today’s blog, is a graduate of Claflin University… despite Claflin’s outrageous attempt to derail her senior year:

In 2015, when officials at Claflin University in South Carolina learned senior honors student Kamaria Downs was pregnant, they kicked her out of the dorms and told her to move off campus.

“I was taken aback,” the now 23-year-old elementary school teacher from Greenville told NBC News. “First, I wasn’t even sure how they found out, and second, they were not offering me any type of housing.”

For Downs, who had pre-paid for her dorm room and meal plan, living at home more than two and a half hours away from her Orangeburg school wasn’t an option. So she ended up living with a professor, and wasn’t refunded for her dorm costs.

But after graduation, she fought against the discriminatory policy at the small historically black college — and won.

Downs defied the school’s implicit structural pressure to have an abortion and is raising her daughter, Ryann. Claflin University settled the case quickly and altered its policies:

Claflin University, which is affiliated with the Methodist Church, had prohibited pregnant students from living in the dorm after their first trimester. It also required pregnant students to submit medical documentation not required of other students under a doctor’s care. … 

… Claflin spokesman George Johnson Jr. told NBC News that the university “appreciates” Downs for “bringing her concerns to our attention” and its new policy is “consistent with our ethical commitment to treat everyone equitably and respectfully.”

It’s noteworthy that Claflin is a Methodist college. The Methodist Church is a pro-abortion denomination, but has taken some steps in the right direction recently. Claflin’s new understanding that it has a moral obligation to accommodate student parents is encouraging.

Also encouraging: Feminists for Life reports that it has reached out to Claflin to help it implement appropriate policies. FFL is a leader on this issue, having hosted pregnancy resource forums on campuses across the country for close to twenty years. If your school is discriminating against pregnant/parenting students, or even if it isn’t but you want to improve your school’s resources, we encourage you to contact FFL and/or Students for Life of America’s Pregnant on Campus initiative.

Related Posts

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
  • Link to Instagram
https://secularprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SecularProlife2.png 0 0 Kelsey Hazzard https://secularprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SecularProlife2.png Kelsey Hazzard2016-09-20 11:39:002021-11-08 12:22:08Heroic student ends pregnancy discrimination at her alma mater
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow via Email

* indicates required

Categories

  • Ableism
  • Administrative
  • Adoption and Foster Care
  • Biology
  • Bodily Rights
  • en español
  • Late-Term Abortion
  • Legislation, laws, and court cases
  • Medication Abortion
  • Miscarriage & Pregnancy Loss
  • Personhood
  • Philosophy
  • Pro-Life Demographics
  • Rape Exception
  • Religion
  • Research
  • SPL Emails
  • Uncategorized
  • We Asked You Answered
  • Your Stories

Archive

As the national conversation on abortion intensifies, it’s more important than ever that we demonstrate that anyone can–and everyone should–oppose abortion. Thanks to you, we are working to change minds, transform our culture, and protect our prenatal children. Every donation supports our ability to provide nonsectarian, nonpartisan arguments against abortion. Please donate today.

DONATE
© Copyright 2023 Secular Pro-Life. All rights reserved. Website Design by TandarichGroup

Related Posts

Join Pro-Life Humanists at the Women in Secularism conference this weekend Start making your March for Life plans
Scroll to top