Catholic Colleges Struggle to Find Proper Policies Toward Sexually Active Students

With sexually active students on their campuses and the Vatican unswervingly opposed to premarital sex, America's Roman Catholic colleges face difficult choices on such sensitive matters as condom use and unwanted pregnancies.

Except for a handful of schools, the 230 colleges and universities do not provide condoms or other contraceptives on campus, drawing renewed criticism that their students face a higher risk of STDs. Yet many schools do offer up-to-date information on sexual health, and some provide referrals for students seeking birth control or considering abortions.

Catholics for a Free Choice, which supports abortion rights and access to birth control, says in a new report that most Catholic colleges have "dangerously inadequate" health services. "Catholic universities are at a difficult moment ... caught between the desire to be a part of the educational mainstream and the Vatican's attempts to tighten its grip," the report says. It contends many female students "feel they have been abandoned by their schools on the issue of reproductive health care."

Of 133 Catholic colleges responding to the survey, only 16 reported making contraceptives available to students, the group said. When contacted by the Associated Press, three of the 16 denied providing contraceptives. Officials at others among the 16 did not dispute the survey listing but said there was no formal policy for providing contraceptives. Instead, campus medical professionals had the option of helping students obtain birth control, they said. Several college officials said medical personnel might help individual students obtain contraceptives without the explicit approval of administrators.

Michael James, assistant director of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, suggested any variance with Vatican doctrine was being initiated discreetly by health professionals. "I'm not aware of any school taking this on with some kind of bravado," he said. Most students at Catholic colleges expect policies that conform with Catholic teaching, he said.

But Catholic and non-Catholic students at Georgetown University have formed Hoyas for Choice, which is pressing the school to distribute condoms and be more open about sexual issues.

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