In July 2023, we discussed the lawsuit of Notre Dame Sociology Professor Tamara Kay against the student newspaper the Irish Rover. I was highly skeptical of not just the complaint but the facts alleged by Professor Kay. As stated at the time, Kay’s claims were challenged as false after the review of other journalists. According to Justice Steven David, I may have been understated. The case was dismissed this week by St. Joseph County, Indiana, Superior Court under Indiana’s Anti-SLAPP law.
Dr. Kay is listed as a Professor of Global Affairs and Sociology and her bio highlights “her multi-award winning article “Abortion, Race, and Gender in Nineteenth-Century America” That article argues that early abortion fights were about race and dominance rather than gender:
“While most histories of abortion argue that nineteenth-century abortion politics concerned gender relations, this article argues that what was at stake was Anglo- Saxon control of the state and dominance of society. Abortion politics contested the proper use of a valuable social resource, the reproductive capacity of Anglo-Saxon women.”
The case concerned an October 2022 article on her public promotion of abortion and a March 2023 article on a College Democrats lecture. The sociology professor denied facts that were clearly true in the articles as well as denying the objective meaning of statements that she made in the past. She alleged that the Rover, “has, and continues to intentionally act, with malice, wanton and willful misconduct and a reckless disregard for the truth all with the intent to damage and negatively impact the Plaintiff.”
The day after the first article was published, Dr. Kay tweeted about the more favorable coverage of her abortion advocacy in the student-run magazine Scholastic. Unlike the Rover, she tweeted that Scholastic doesn’t “publish lies.” She added: “Oh, and very important — a fantastic journalist [ ] actually…wait for it… INTERVIEWED ME for the piece and quoted me accurately (unlike the other for which there was absolutely no interview).”
However, the Rover supplied proof that its student journalist did interview her, including a recording of a conversation in which its editor introduces himself as “Joe DeReuil, the editor of the Irish Rover.”
Dr. Kay later again attacked the Rover and declared “It’s not affiliated with ND, it’s not a ‘student publication,’ it has no journalistic standards, holds no ethics, is run by faculty advisors who promote bigotry & connect students to national orgs that promote hate (see who reposted).” She added “My colleagues gave me the Cliff Notes version [of the article about her advocacy] b/c I don’t read it [the Rover].”
However, it is Dr. Kay’s veracity that was put into question in the litigation by the Rover, which directly contradicted her claims in court filings.
For example, the complaint objected to the October 2022 article written by DeReuil titled “Keough School Professor Offers Abortion Access to Students.” However, the complaint was remarkably vague on the reason. The headline, however, seemed to be the problem.
The panel event itself was “Post-Roe America: Making Intersectional Feminist Sense of Abortion Bans,” the participants discussed how Indiana’s new pro-life law, S.B. 1, would be harmful to “marginalized groups.”
Kay is quoted as telling the Rover that “For me, abortion is a policy issue. And yes, my view runs afoul of Church teaching, but in other areas, my positions are perfectly aligned [with the Church].” However, Kay accused the students of lying and insisted there was “absolutely no interview” with the Rover. DeReuil then produced a recording in which he reportedly clearly identifies himself as the editor of the Rover before asking her several questions.
Kay also advocated abortion services through her Twitter account on which she identified herself as “Dr. Tamara Kay — Notre Dame abortion rights expert.” She also offered to “help as a private citizen if you have issues w access or cost. DM me [sic].”
She also reportedly posted a sign on her office door on campus that said, “This is a SAFE SPACE to get help and information on ALL Healthcare issues and access — confidentially with care and compassion.” The National Review reported that Kay’s non-Notre Dame email included information on how to reach her and told students to look for “a letter ‘J’” as a signal for helping with abortions: “Look for the ‘J’, Spread the word to students!”
Notably, the National Review reported that, after the Rover article, Kay changed her Twitter display name and “removed the signs from her office door and deleted her tweets about helping students access abortion.”
The lawsuit also raised allegedly false statements made in a March 2023 article from the Rover written by student journalist Luke Thompson: “Tamara Kay Explains Herself to Notre Dame Democrats.”
Kay objected that she was falsely accused of “posting offers to procure abortion pills on her office door.” However, the National Review quotes a Notre Dame spokesman stating that in the case of the sign
“a reasonable person could understand Professor Kay to be giving medical advice (on becoming ‘unpregnant’ by taking abortion pills without knowing any details about an individual student’s health). This seemed unwise from both the perspective of faculty members and students.”
The recordings and media coverage also show that Kay made statements that seemed to track the views alleged by the student journalists even if there was some variation on the words.
Justice David rejected the factual claims of Dr. Kay and held that
“the alleged defamatory statements were true, within the meaning of the law, not made with actual malice, did not contain a defamatory inference, and there were no damages that were causally linked to The Irish Rover Articles, Dr. Kay’s defamation claim fails and the statements in the Articles were lawful.”
David found that “the allegedly defamatory statements were made in the furtherance of the defendant’s right to free speech, were made in connection with a public issue, were made with good faith and with a reasonable basis in law and fact.” The court also questioned how Kay could “voluntarily put herself into the national abortion issue either on the campus of Notre Dame or in a broader, national forum, by making multiple strong statements in favor of abortion rights and access to abortion and expect that it will not become newsworthy at Notre Dame and elsewhere.”
Here is the decision: Kay v. Irish Rover
To me, abortion is a societal issue. As such, l don’t see how it can be limited just to the parties directly involved. For example, in years past, voters in my state have voted on ballot measures related to abortion policy. These matters are not limited to people who have experienced abortion directly. I may agree or disagree with the outcome of these measures, but that is part of living in a democracy.
If men that don’t like to see babies destroyed and are criticized and then are told they should stay out of a woman’s right, shouldn’t men who support abortion be excluded from having a voice as well? What gives them the right to speak for a woman? With that logic, it seems like it’s hands off for men all the way around. But of course if you are responsible for impregnating…well…we can’t have that can we, that’s a different story.
Fox News Coverage Of Tamara Kay
A pro-choice professor at the University of Notre Dame has lost a defamation lawsuit against a conservative student newspaper that she said misrepresented and defamed her.
Tamara Kay, a sociology and global affairs professor, sued the Irish Rover in May over two of its articles that she said contained “false and defamatory information,” according to a copy of the complaint reviewed by Fox News Digital. The complaint specifically named two student journalists, W. Joseph DeReuil and Luke Thompson.
The student newspaper reported that Kay had a sign on her campus office door that read: “This is a SAFE SPACE to get help and information on ALL Healthcare issues and access — confidentially with care and compassion.”
https://www.foxnews.com/media/judge-rules-against-pro-choice-notre-dame-professor-lawsuit-conservative-student-paper
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This Fox News story carries a photo of the “Wild Rover” staff: 4 guys and one girl. Isn’t that interesting!
But these 4 guys are highly passionate about women’s health. And it really bothered them that Dr. Kay was serving as an information source on reproductive options. As men who care about women, these guys want to silence Dr. Kay because women should depend on men for information.
Trying to silence her? You’re delusional. They wrote a newspaper article. She tried to silence them by suing them. And what a disgusting little sexist you are. Only women are allowed to write newspaper articles on topic X.
Estovir, why are far-right guys so concerned with stopping abortion?
Because it’s murder?
AWFL.
Notre Dame has roughly 4,300 female students. One surmises that at least some of those women have an interest in obtaining information regarding reproductive choices. Professor Kay was attempting to fill an information vacuum that the famously Catholic school had willfully ignored.
Fine, let her fill the information vacuum, and let the newspaper fill a different information vacuum by writing an article about her activities. You got a problem with that?
PUPPET WATCH
Below readers will find Old Man From Kansas, Iowan2, Whimsical Mama and Neil Bobacon commenting in a block. They are all puppets of Tom/Estovir.
These block of puppets illustrate how one creepy nerd manipulates these comment threads to reflect only their point of view.
You lie!
Is she a DEI or qualified?
Interesting point that is not in the article: the Senior Judge issuing the Order is retired Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven David, and not the regular judge in St. Joseph Superior Court 4.
Unless you have actually been involved in an Abortion, either as the Father of an Aborted Child or as the Mother of an aborted Child, you really truly have no business here in addressing this issue. It’s Their concern not yours.
…you really truly have no business here in addressing this issue.
False. If a particular town 1,000 miles away dislikes the homeless, and passes an ordinance saying they can be killed if town residents so choose, and Professor Turley writes an article, the general public does have a “business” commenting on the issue.
When tax dollars are used to fund pp it sure as hell is.
I’ve never been involved in a murder, nor have I been the father or mother of a murderer or his/her victim. And yet I still consider it my business to have an opinion about the issue, and I am not even remotely dissuaded to address the issue and my opinion of it in a public forum. Take the word murder out of my statement and insert others, like theft, peaceful protest/assembly, mandated vaccination, or a million others and realize that our social contract requires we address a broad spectrum of issues that sometimes cross into concerns not directly related to us. I do understand your argument of privacy as it pertains to abortion, but to presume that others should not address the topic unless they experience it is absurd.
Unless you’ve actually been a fetus, you really have some business addressing this.
F’off, AWFL.
You can understand how a liberal would believe that stating their opinion would be defamatory.
Kay is example 48,542,214 of how tepid middle class white women with college degrees are ruining the nation. Is it the anti-depressants? Maybe a more basic biological misfunction?
So many sociology, race, and gender Ph.D.’s, calling themselves “experts,” and making outlandish statements, accusations, and blatant lies.
I would expand that to all the administrative offices, and the Professors. It is becoming clear, the norm is Academia is so effectively siloed, as to promote institutional ignorance. These people are only capable of communicating with each other ONLY in their chosen field. All else is beyond their ken.
’ it has no journalistic standards, holds no ethics, is run by faculty advisors who promote bigotry & connect students to national orgs
She must be one of the anonymous trolls that comment here. No facts, no logic, raw ignorance of controlling law.
There are no qualification required to exercise your right to publish articles. After that little fact is applied, all else melts away.
What about the attorney that filed this action? the Bar should go after that lawyers license.
It’s coming down to the wire and abortion seems to be their hill to die on; most other reliable issues to rally the masses have fallen to the wayside in the current socio/economic cesspool in which we no abide. I can see Kay as a front line soldier for the prog/left.
Cheers to the Irish Rover.
A professor of sociology and global affairs is no expert on abortion, it’s indications , it’s complications, it’s alternatives, it’s mental health aftereffects, or even the downright death (some would call it murder of another human being). I wonder if she has ever actually attended an abortion when the “fetus” is big enough to actually see as a person with extremities, fingers, toes and face and know she you just helped in it’s death. I did in my 3rd year of medical school and that put me on the road to pro-life. My reasoning was simple , “how can you be a physician and not be pro-life”. It’s really a contradiction in terms. Abortion should always be saved for the use for overt danger to the health of the mother, coupled with simple, cheap and safe birth control available to all women. The Affordable Care Act could have provided that with some real thought and never even got close to forcing insurers to cover birth control, especially in the religious realm. They generated a fight and lost that they never needed to fight with just some little alternative thinking.
Dr. Anonymous – excellent points all around. As for why the Dems chose the extreme measures and set up a fight, if you’ll recall Obamacare was passed on a party-line vote. They had enough control that they didn’t need to compromise. Thoughtful solutions, thoughtful compromises, are foreign to Democrats. They are extremists, fanatics. They only think about being thoughtful when there is no other choice.
“. . . how Kay could “voluntarily put herself into the national abortion issue either on the campus of Notre Dame [. . .] and expect that it will not become newsworthy . . .”
This case reminds me of the eternally whiny Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. First they put themselves in a situation. Then they play the victim when time comes to face the consequences of that situation.
So many sociology, race, and gender Ph.D.’s, calling themselves “experts,” and making outlandish statements, accusations, and blatant lies. Be wary of them.
Scholars of trivia.
Dr. Kay, like so many liberals today wants to squash free speech.
But let’s look at some current abortion facts. Since 1973 about 65,000,000 abortions have occurred in the US, over 16,000,000 of those were of black unborn people. So abortion has had and continues to have, a disproportionate impact on the black population, indeed decreasing the black percentage of the population and hence the ultimate number of black voters. The Democrat Party, which so strongly advocates totally unrestricted abortion knows this is impacting a voting block they have taken for granted for decades. Hence, we see the party’s efforts through an open border to replace (in their minds) that decreasing black voter block with what they think will be their next, Hispanics.
The continued black support for Democrats is actually decimating their own population through abortion. Some are waking up to that fact. Indeed, Margaret Sanger’s despicable “Negro Project” is alive and well today as many black ministers continue to promote the Democrat Party, thereby legitimizing its destructive abortion policy for the blacks in America. Sad, very, very sad.