As St. Thomas Peer Ministry gathered to hold a “Prayer For Life” vigil Friday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Paul, students in support of abortion rights also showed up to stand against the event.

Around 15 students and faculty held rosary beads while saying Hail Mary prayers and occasionally singing a song at the clinic on Vandalia Street, about a mile from campus. Peer Ministry organized the 7:50 a.m. event to pray for “the unborn and their mothers facing difficult circumstances.”

A separate group of about 14 students went to the clinic at the same time. The group came with signs and voiced displeasure with the event.

“It was very upsetting seeing that St. Thomas sponsors this kind of activity,” senior Sam Twardy said. “We believe that reproductive rights are human rights. We also believe that people shouldn’t be harassed for accessing very necessary health care. And that’s what Planned Parenthood is – is a health-care facility.”

Associate campus minister and adjunct theology professor Timothy Combs declined to comment at the event but later emailed a statement to TommieMedia.

He wrote that the prayer gathering “is intended as an act of compassion both for the unborn babies whose lives are ended there and for the women who feel compelled to make that tragic choice.”

Catherine Patros, a St. Thomas graduate student, said that she believes in upholding St. Thomas’ Catholic values.

“Campus Ministry is trying to stand for the Catholic faith that the university was founded out of,” Patros said.

Before the event, senior Jade Fruge emailed vigil organizers, explaining why she and other St. Thomas students were against the event.

“Planned Parenthood is not an abortion clinic. Out of the over 10 million services provided at Planned Parenthood in 2020, only 3% of them were abortion services,” she wrote in the email. “It is counterproductive, and frankly a waste of your time, to go pray outside of a clinic and patronize people who are only trying to receive medical care.”

At the event, Fruge told TommieMedia that no one in her group was against Peer Ministry’s prayers for unborn life, but instead they don’t want people feeling unwelcome or judged for their choices to get health care through Planned Parenthood.

“I also wish that we could live in a world that didn’t have abortion,” Fruge said. “But until we get rid of things like how bad the adoption, the foster care system is and health inequities and racial disparities, we’re not going to be able to get rid of abortion.”

Patros said she attended to support the Catholic social teachings, which she said “is the dignity of each and every human person as being created in the image of God.”

“There’s something about being together with others and also (being) in the place where it happens that makes it just seem more real to me,” Patros said.

Fruge said the ministry’s stance makes her question its ability to speak for the larger St. Thomas community.

“For me, it makes me not feel comfortable to ever go back to Campus Ministry for any services because I know that they don’t support anything that I stand for,” Fruge said. “It just shows women that we don’t have a right to our body by Campus Ministry supporting something like this.”

Twardy felt the vigil against abortion reflects poorly on the university.

“I think it puts out the message that the University of St. Thomas has its opinion and kind of silences the other people that don’t believe in it,” Twardy said. “If I would have known that this was going on when I was an applying freshmen, I probably wouldn’t have come.”

Despite disagreement, Patros said she was happy that people were voicing their opinions.

“I’m glad to see that people believe in things and are willing to stand up for them. I’d much rather see that than see apathetic people who don’t care,” Patros said.

Scout Mason can be reached at maso7275@stthomas.edu.