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Professors tell Georgetown Law to do better to accommodate pregnant students

Professors and pro-life leaders are calling on Georgetown University to do more to help pregnant students after an expecting mother said she was denied an exam accommodation at the Catholic institution’s law school.

Initially, the law school refused to grant Brittany Lovely’s request, telling her “Motherhood is not for the Faint of Heart,” according to a petition created by her classmates.

This week, however, a Georgetown spokesperson told The College Fix the university “reached a mutually agreeable solution” with Lovely. The spokesperson declined to provide more details, stating, “Georgetown does not publicly comment on the specifics of individual student matters.”

The Washington Post reported that “Lovely said Georgetown agreed to extend a period to defer exams, from mid-December into January. Students can request deferrals in emergency situations, such as giving birth.”

“That’s great that they figured out a way to do that,” Lovely told the Post, “But why have I been fighting them for months?”

Lovely’s situation, which attracted national attention, has raised questions and concerns about the university’s commitment to supporting new and expecting mothers.

Two professors at nearby institutions in Washington, D.C. urged Georgetown faculty and administrators to do better.

Michael New, a professor at the Catholic University of America, said he was not surprised that Lovely’s request initially was refused.

“It is certainly important for colleges to provide accommodations for pregnant and parenting students,” New said in an email to The Fix. “Being pro-life means more than making strong philosophical or theological arguments in support of legal protection for preborn children. Being pro-life means providing tangible support for pregnant women, families, and children in need.”

The business professor said he fears that Georgetown is not committed to hiring “faithful Catholics” since the university has an “LGBT center on campus.”

While some of its students are active in the pro-life cause, New said he does not think university leaders are “building a culture of life.”

“Georgetown University, like many Catholic Universities, has moved away from its Catholic background,” New said. “… they have prioritized prestige and rankings over the Catholic faith.”

John Banzhaf, a law professor at George Washington University in D.C., said the faculty also failed Lovely.

“Georgetown Law was seriously at fault for not agreeing to the accommodation, even if the law didn’t requirement,” Banzhaf told The Fix in an email Tuesday. “That both Title IX AND the DC Human Rights Act require it, and a law school which is supposed to teach the law and respect for the law violated the law, makes it even more serious.”

‘Inequitable to all the other non-birthing students’

Lovely, a second-year law student, told the Washington Post her due date is Dec. 2 and one of her exams is scheduled for Dec. 13. She said she asked the university if she could take her exam early or complete it remotely.

However, the university told her “it would be inequitable to all the other non-birthing students in her class” if she was given special accommodations, according to the petition.

The university proposed that Lovely bring her newborn baby to the exam. According to the petition, administrators offered her extra time to finish if she needed to nurse her child.

The petition urging Georgetown to grant Lovely’s request garnered more than 7,000 signatures, according to CNN.

In a statement to The Fix, a Georgetown spokesperson stated the university “is committed to providing a caring, supportive environment for pregnant and parenting students,” and it “offers academic and practical resources” for them.

“We have reached a mutually agreeable solution with the student who raised concerns,” the spokesperson stated.

But others expressed concerns a similar incident could happen again unless the university makes changes.

Banzhaf at George Washington University said the Georgetown law faculty should have been more proactive.

“Instead, at most, they joined with many others in signing a petition begging GU to do what both the law and common decency requires. ‘Please pretty please follow the law voluntarily, since we are certainly not going to lift a finger to make you do it,’” he told The Fix.

“As a result, there is no precedent, and the next pregnant student will likewise have to beg,” Banzhaf said.

‘Women deserve better’

Pro-life leaders in the D.C. area also expressed concerns that universities aren’t doing more to support students with children.

Olivia Turner, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life, said Georgetown had to “get pushed … into the 21st century” to face the reality of helping pregnant students succeed.

In an interview Tuesday, Turner told The Fix that Virginia State University is doing a better job by providing special housing for soon-to-be mothers and, eventually, child care so students can continue their studies after giving birth.

“This is the smart way to do things, and it’s shocking that it’s taken til 2024 and 2025 now to see a development like that take place at a school,” she said in the phone interview. “It should be happening everywhere.”

Turner said it is vital for every college to support and accommodate pregnant students, especially in today’s age.

“Because pregnant women aren’t in confinement anymore, it’s not 1902,” Turner said. “We stay active and many of us work up to the day that our children are born … Pregnancy isn’t a disorder, but it is something that needs special treatment and special care.”

Serrin Foster also advocates for helping pregnant and parenting students succeed. Foster, the president of Feminists for Life of America, said she is thankful for Georgetown’s new decision to grant Lovely accommodations.

“I did reach out to the administration and was very pleased with the resolution,” Foster said in an email to The Fix on Tuesday. “Some students are concerned that this was an exception, but in my mind the law school has established precedence as well as followed the law.”

“Most important, the law school has met the needs of Brittany and Baby Lovely, just as they have for pregnant and parenting undergrads since our first FFL Pregnancy and Parenting Resource Forum nearly three decades ago,” she said.

Foster said her organization began partnering with Georgetown in 1997 to host the event promoting pregnancy and parenting resources. She said she hopes more universities will want to support parenting students because “women deserve better.”

“[Attorney] Sarah Weddington argued Roe v. Wade in part that women could not graduate if pregnant,” Foster said. “We do not underestimate women. They are capable of reading, writing, thinking, and learning. Pregnancy can be a detour. It doesn’t have to be a dead end.”

MORE: OB-GYNs push back on House report claim abortion bans hinder medical training

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