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Ostara Institute in violation of Church agreement

Ostara Institute in violation of Church agreement


Ostara Institute in violation of Church agreement

A Catholic Church watchdog is calling for the demise of a Catholic-funded agency.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, which is a project of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, recently gave a third consecutive grant to an organization called the Ostara Initiative.

Hichborn, Michael (Lepanto Institute) Hichborn

"The Ostara Initiative is an organization that is dedicated to helping pregnant women in prisons," explains Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute. "The problem is that they are also assisting pregnant women in prisons obtain access to abortion, and they are lobbying for the – quote – 'constitutional right to an abortion' for incarcerated women."

Even though the bishops have been aware of that information since 2020, the financial grants have continued.

"Abortion is completely counter to Catholic teaching," Hichborn asserts. "In fact, every organization that receives a grant through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has to sign an agreement saying that they won't do anything that counters Catholic moral and social teaching. They're not even allowed to be parts of coalitions that act against moral and social teaching."

Hichborn hopes the bishops will finally withdraw funding from the errant organization or work behind the scenes to shut down the Ostara Initiative.