In Wake Of Indiana Abortion Doctor's Fetal Remains Stockpiling, Woman Renews Call For Student Mothers' Dorm At Notre Dame
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The 2,200 fetal remains that were found in the Illinois garage of Indiana's most prolific abortion doctor rattled many in both states.
Now, one graduate of the University of Notre Dame has told CBS 2's Chris Tye that with the now-deceased Dr. Ulrich Klopfer's clinic having been so close to campus, it is proving a wakeup call that the university repeatedly fails to answer.
Born together and raised together, twins Amanda and Lacy Dodd – now Lacy Dodd Miske – graduated Notre Dame together on ROTC scholarships in 1999.
They were ready to trade South Bend for Giebelstadt Airfield in Germany, when a doctor's visit created separation in their twin life-story. Miske found out she was pregnant.
"I just remember feeling very unsupported, and I pretty much ran out of there and I was alone," said Miske said.
In the end, the push of faith outweighed the pull of single mom struggles. And in November 1999, baby Mary was born.
Just a few months later, police believe abortion doctor Ulrich Klopfer, who had clinics blocks from campus, began collecting and cataloging thousands of fetal remains here in his Will County, Illinois garage.
"These poor children who were never given a chance would be the same age as my daughter, who's now 19," Miske said. "If this doesn't shock the conscience, I don't know what does, honestly."
We skyped with Miske Tuesday from California.
In 2009, she wrote to Notre Dame's president, urging for a designated dorm for student mothers and moms to be.
The Rev. John Jenkins, who was president then and still is now, replied with, "I have formed a task force that will be making recommendations to me about possible initiatives that the university may take as witness to the sanctity of life."
But 10 years later, nothing has happened.
Tye: "Are they saying no in your mind because they may alienate donors? Because they don't want to put their finger on the nerve of a hot button issue in this country? Is it because of something else that we can't theorize?"
Miske: "Notre Dame, they don't realize the breadth of the problem. They don't realize how many college students, in particular, are affected by unplanned pregnancies.
Penning a new push to a Notre Dame/Saint Mary's student newspaper, Miske is making the case again for that dorm.
"Notre Dame, as the premier Catholic institution in our country, has an obligation to practice what they preach and walk the walk," she said.
That's her challenge for the university. But for Dr. Klopfer's former patients, she said, "Their wounds have to be reopened and they have to relive the horrors of their own abortions."
Lacy says a dorm for new moms and moms shouldn't be controversial, even at a Catholic campus. She called it very middle-ground in a very hotly contested issue.
CBS 2 reached out to Notre Dame and the Diocese of South Bend today. Neither returned our calls.
