Indiana Judge Dismisses Pro-Abortion Notre Dame Professor’s Defamation Suit against Student Journalists

An Indiana court on Monday dismissed a pro-abortion Notre Dame professor’s defamation lawsuit against campus student journalists after they reported on her activism, which included offering to help students obtain abortions.

Tamara Kay, a sociology and global-affairs professor, claimed the Irish Rover, the school’s independent conservative student newspaper, published two articles containing “defamatory and false statements.”

The case was dismissed under the state’s anti-SLAPP laws, which aim to prevent frivolous lawsuits.

St. Joseph County, Indiana, Superior Court Judge Steven David “found 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 concluded that the 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 ruling affirmed that Kay “cannot 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.”

Student editor Joe DeReuil told National Review he was “gratified to see the court confirm this morning what we at the Irish Rover were sure of all along: that we published nothing but the truth and that we acted entirely in good faith.”

“I hope that our successful defense against this suit from a tenured Notre Dame professor will encourage others to confidently exercise their right to free speech in pursuit of the truth,” he added.

Kay’s lawsuit, which she filed in May, took issue with an October 2022 article written by DeReuil, “Keough School Professor Offers Abortion Access to Students.” However, the complaint failed to cite any specific examples of false statements included in the piece, as National Review first reported last year.

DeReuil reported on a panel event at the university titled “Post-Roe America: Making Intersectional Feminist Sense of Abortion Bans,” in which four Notre Dame professors, including Kay, argued that Indiana’s new pro-life law, S.B. 1, would be harmful to “marginalized groups.” (An Indiana court temporarily blocked the bill one day after the panel.)

“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],” Kay told the Rover after the panel.

On October 13, one day after the article was published, Kay claimed in a tweet that there was “absolutely no interview” with the Rover. However, DeReuil sent National Review a recording of his conversation with Kay in which he clearly identifies himself as the editor of the Rover before asking her several questions. Kay told the Cut that while DeReuil introduced himself, she did not see him recording or taking notes and did not believe she was being interviewed for a story.

Kay shared several pro-abortion resources on her Twitter using the handle “Dr. Tamara Kay — Notre Dame abortion rights expert.” She offered to “help as a private citizen if you have issues w access or cost. DM me [sic].”

Kay also 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,” according to the Rover’s report.

The note included Kay’s non-Notre Dame email, where students could reach her, as well a letter “J,” which signaled that she is willing to help students access abortion. “We are here (as private citizens, not representatives of ND) to help you access healthcare when you need it, and we are prepared in every way. Look for the ‘J’, Spread the word to students!” Kay explained in a social media post cited by the Rover.

“These professors, including Kay, offer help in obtaining both Plan B’ morning after’ pills and ‘Plan C’ abortion pills, which are efficacious up to 12 weeks of pregnancy,” the article adds.

After DeReuil’s article was published — and quickly went viral in national conservative media — Kay backtracked and said her efforts were undertaken as a “private citizen.” She changed her Twitter display name to “Dr. Tamara Kay — Abortion Rights & Policy Scholar” and updated her bio to read, “I don’t speak for my employer (duh!).” She also removed the signs from her office door and deleted her tweets about helping students access abortion.

The lawsuit centered on a March 2023 article from the Rover written by student journalist Luke Thompson: “Tamara Kay Explains Herself to Notre Dame Democrats.”

The complaint objects to a line in the article that summarized the October 2022 report by saying that Kay was “posting offers to procure abortion pills on her office door.”

Despite the suit suggesting this is false, a Notre Dame spokesman told the Cut earlier this year 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 suit also cited another portion of the article that reads, “Another student asked how Kay—as someone who supports abortion— ended up at Notre Dame, a Catholic university that ‘recognizes and upholds the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death,’ as stated by President Jenkins in Notre Dame’s Institutional Statement Supporting the Choice for Life.” She claimed the question was never asked.

A recording of the event obtained by National Review confirms a student asked Kay how she ended up at Notre Dame and how her experiences and beliefs affected her coming there.

The suit alleged that in the article she was “falsely stated to have said that, ‘if you have that academic freedom, you should use it.” In a recording of the event, Kay can be heard saying in reference to academic freedom, “If you have it—” before playfully cutting off, implying that students should put academic freedom to use.

Finally, the suit argued against the article’s claim that “She acknowledges that not all the students in the crowd could be as forward in their pro-abortion activities as she is: I can’t impose that on you. . . . but I’m doing me, and you should do you.” The complaint claims she never said that.

Again, the recording revealed Kay said a similar statement, if not in those exact words: “I’m doing me and other folks can do them.”

The Rover celebrated the ruling in a statement on Monday.

“In filing and pursuing this lawsuit over the course of the last year, Kay attempted to silence and intimidate undergraduate students at her own university for accurate reporting on her public comments,” the paper’s editorial staff said in a statement. “We hope that this ruling will serve to discourage such efforts to chill free speech in the future and invigorate others to courageously exercise their right to freedom of speech in pursuit of the truth. ”