At their White Coat Ceremony, incoming University of Michigan medical students staged a walk-out during the keynote speaker’s pro-life lecture.
Due to her anti-abortion views, Dr. Kirstin Collier, an assistant professor of medicine at UMMS, had earlier been asked to withdraw from the initiation.
However, after their first attempt at protesting was unsuccessful, a number of students stood up from their seats and left the room as Christian Dr. Collier addressed them from the stage.
While some of those in attendance can be seen applauding as Dr. Collier begins speaking, others got up and left as she went on.
Collier began by dismissing the widespread walkout and saying that she was “proud” to have been selected as the speaker.
She reportedly said: “I want to address the tremendous wounds our community has sustained over the past few weeks,” according to the National Review. For healing to take place, there is a lot of effort to be done.
“And I hope that for today, for this time, we can concentrate on what matters most: coming together to help our newly admitted students and their families with the aim of ensuring that they are welcomed into one of the finest vocations that is currently possible on this globe.”
She has previously participated in a panel debate on “Pro-Life” feminism organised by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame in 2019.
Although Collier’s speech was not anticipated to address pro-life issues, her remarks seemed to make a barely disguised allusion to the controversy surrounding the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Prior to now, she expressed her opinions on Twitter, writing: “Holding on to a concept of feminism where one fights for the rights of all women and girls, especially those who are most vulnerable.”
I am unable to remain silent about the brutality committed against my pregnant sisters during abortions carried out in the name of autonomy.
“Liberation at the expense of innocent lives is only redistributed oppression.”
Along with some of their parents, incoming students dressed in white coats for medicine protested.
According to one student, the decision by UMMS to have Dr. Collier as a keynote speaker makes this situation much worse.
I’m already afraid that I’ve decided to attend school in a state where I can very possibly lose my right to a safe abortion.
It leaves me really unsure of the school’s commitment to promoting reproductive rights.
Another person said: “I am attending UMMS in large part because of their progressive approach to healthcare and education, and the decision to have Dr. Collier as the keynote speaker makes me reconsider my decision.”
Others criticised her participation in the initiation, saying it was “inappropriate,” and that she would be more appropriate for a “learning opportunity or debate” at a future time.
They wrote in the petition, “While we support the rights of freedom of speech and religion, an anti-choice speaker as a representative of the University of Michigan undermines the University’s position on abortion and supports the non-universal, theologically based platform to restrict access to abortion, an important component of medical care.
“This is not just a difference of opinion; via our demand, we are demonstrating our unity with those who want to limit access to medical treatment and take away human rights.”
We demand that the University of Michigan support us and choose a speaker whose principles are in line with those of the school, the students, and the larger medical community.
The next generation of healthcare professionals should be motivated by this speaker to stand up bravely for patient autonomy and our communities.
They claimed that 248 current students and 100 new students signed their petition, but Dr. Marschall Runge, the school’s dean, finally rejected it.
He claimed that Collier, who also serves as the director of the UMMS Program on Health Spirituality & Religion, avoided discussing politics or abortion in her remarks.
Dr. Runge continued by saying that she “just encouraged students and parents” and provided them with guidance on what to anticipate as they start their careers in the healthcare industry.
He cited the “essential value of diversity of personal thought and ideas, which is foundational to academic freedom and quality,” in his decision to deny the petition.
Collier thanked her fans for their encouragement and assistance in helping her get ready for the speech prior to the event.
Michigan is one of five states that automatically outlawed abortion after the 1973 Roe decision reinstated old restrictions that had been repealed.
But after Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer filed a move, Michigan Medicine, the facility operated by the University of Michigan, continues to offer abortion services because the procedure is still permitted in the state.
Democratic candidate Whitmer is attempting to go around lower courts by asking the Michigan Supreme Court to invalidate a legislation from 1931 that she claims violates the state constitution.
Abortions that are not carried out to save the life of the pregnant woman are illegal under a statute from 1931.