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CNA Staff, Jul 31, 2025 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

A lawsuit filed in Massachusetts alleges that a Catholic student in a medical education program was dismissed from the school after she objected to having been forced to witness an abortion as part of her clinical studies.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in state court, alleges that Alina Thopurathu was taking part in Springfield College’s physician assistant program when, during clinical rotations, she was scheduled to see a dilation and evacuation, or D&E, a procedure commonly used for later-term abortions.

Thopurathu, identified in the filing as a practicing Catholic, wrote in evaluations that she had assumed the procedure was intended for a miscarriage and that she was “overwhelmed” at witnessing an actual abortion.

“In the future, I believe students should be asked if they are comfortable with seeing a D&E rather than being assigned the procedure without patient information,” she wrote in the evaluation.

The lawsuit says that after this write-up, faculty evaluations of Thopurathu “changed tone,” with advisers accusing her of negative performance in the program, though she had received praise beforehand.

Eventually her academic advisers presented her with a “remediation contract” placing her under academic probation, according to the suit; the school also designated her work in the OB-GYN rotation as “incomplete.” 

Thopurathu said she was “coerced” to sign the contract, the terms of which allegedly went beyond what was required in the student handbook. The school eventually dismissed her from the program, citing her alleged negative performance.

The suit claims that following her negative response to being forced to witness an abortion, the college “sought to dismiss [Thopurathu] for having personal values incompatible with those of the [school].” 

The lawsuit seeks monetary damages from the school, including $500,000 for “mental anguish, emotional distress,” and other injuries. 

Springfield College did not immediately return a request for comment on the suit on Thursday. 

The suit has drawn national support from pro-life advocates. Students for Life of America spokesman Michael Allers told the College Fix this week that the group “stands with all Catholics in the academic space that are discriminated against by the secular elite.”