Iowa -- in 2001 and 2002, had previously been a pro-abortion candidate for U.S. Congress and Illinois lieutenant governor.

Pro-abortion politicians, most of them "retired" from politics, also find a refuge in Catholic colleges.

These include Carol Moseley Braun teaching management at DePaul University, Geraldine Ferraro sitting on Fordham University law school's board of visitors and teaching public policy at Georgetown, and Leon Panetta teaching political science and sitting on the board of trustees and law school board of visitors at Santa Clara University.

Q: What are some solutions to ensure that Catholic colleges uphold their Catholic, pro-life mission?

Reilly: At a minimum, Catholic colleges and their employees should not contribute to the culture of death.

This means carefully screening prospective employees and representatives of colleges, banning inappropriate campus speakers and honorees, providing campus health and counseling services that are consistent with Catholic teaching, monitoring college Web sites and materials distributed on campus, and refusing to cooperate with organizations that advance the culture of death -- such as referrals to Planned Parenthood.

As with individual Catholics, something more is also expected of Catholic institutions: They should be proactively building a culture of life. Colleges can begin with their own campuses.

This means providing counseling and health services that promote chastity, adoption and motherhood, providing comprehensive and well-promoted services for pregnant students, seeking honorees and lecturers who model pro-life activism and behavior, and otherwise finding ways to be visibly and persuasively pro-life in all official actions and commitments.

Colleges struggling with this issue can look for advice from institutions that are consistently Catholic. A few examples include the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Thomas Aquinas College, and the Catholic University of America, but there are several other good models.