The House has approved an amendment to one of the abortion control bills that is aimed at money received by NDSU from Planned Parenthood.
The three year, $1.2 million grant is to be used for research on how to prevent teenagers from contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Initially, some lawmakers told NDSU it could not accept that money – because they believed state law prohibited the university from accepting money from organizations involved in performing or counseling abortions. A subsequent Attorney General’s opinion said NDSU could accept that money. And abortion opponents added an amendment – that would specifically prohibit the acceptance of grant money from those kinds of organizations.
Rep. Joshua Boschee (D-Fargo) argued against the amendment.
:We must allow academic freedom to occur on our college campuses without interference from us," Boschee told his House colleagues. "NDSU and the youth of North Dakota are being used as political footballs for a specific viewpoint."
The amendment passed 57 to 35. It's now attached to one of the half-dozen abortion control measures the Legislature has been considering.
