Two panelists invited to attend an ethics conference at Carroll College next week have been removed from the list of participants, one of them -- a representative of Planned Parenthood -- by the school's president.

Carroll College President Tom Trebon withdrew the school's invitation to Sarah Fredrickson of Planned Parenthood of Montana last week, saying the college was fundamentally opposed to the health-care provider's practices, which include abortion and birth control.

Trebon said Thursday he discussed the issue at length with members of Carroll's faculty, staff, board members, and various community members before reaching his decision. He then met personally with Fredrickson and asked her to withdraw from the seminar.

"Planned Parenthood's stance on certain issues, including abortion and reproductive rights, violate Carroll College's mission as a Diocesan Catholic college," Trebon said Thursday. "I believe the presence of a representative of Planned Parenthood on a panel at a public gathering on campus would violate the college's mission, mission statement, and commitment to Catholic values and ideals."

The school's decision to withdraw Fredrickson's invitation has been decried by some faculty members as censorship and an attempt to silence a controversial debate. E-mails circulating this week noted that a college should provide a platform to discuss societal issues no matter how contentious. Some feared Carroll's reputation would suffer as a result of its decision.

The school was recently ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the third best comprehensive college in the West.

"Censorship has its roots in fear," one faculty member stated in an e-mail. "What do we fear? Do we imagine that (Fredrickson)... will argue that her position is the official position of Carroll College and the Catholic Church, and that there will be no one on the panel, or in the audience, to rebut her?"

Trebone said he supports academic freedom in teaching, adding that he "fully support openness of dialogue." But he noted that the values expressed in the school's mission statement, and those of the Catholic Faith, stand opposed to Planned Parenthood's position on the sanctity of life.

The three-day conference scheduled for Sept. 15-17, "Science at the Edge of Humanity," was assembled by a committee of senior faculty members to address these and other issues. The conference was promoted as a balanced seminar aimed at exploring end of life and beginning of life issues.

Tara Jensen, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Montana, said while the organization wanted to attend the seminar, it respects the school's decision to exclude its representative from the conference.

"We're disappointed as a health-care group," Jenson said. "It is unfortunate that an academic institution would not include us."

Jensen said that Planned Parenthood promotes and provides women's health care and family planning. The organization saw 21,000 patients last year in Helena, many of them living at the poverty level, Jensen said.

"We do so many wonderful things for so many people," Jensen said. "Carroll is an academic institution where all sides of an issue should be openly discussed. It's unfortunate we're not being included."

The panel in which Fredrickson was to attend, "Living Life at Death's Doorway," involved various health-care workers including two registered nurses and a chaplain from St. Peter's Hospital. The conference's other panels include moral theologians, church leaders, attorneys, ethicists, and doctors.

Fredrickson's place in the seminar was to be balanced by Eric Schiedermayer of the Montana Catholic Conference. However, in an effort to maintain balance, the invitation to the Montana Catholic Conference was withdrawn by the committee once the school withdrew its invitation to Planned Parenthood.

Trebon called the withdrawal of the Catholic Conference's invitation unfortunate but added that the seminar would be a worthwhile event nonetheless that covers the day's important issues.

Carroll College was founded in 1909 by the Catholic Diocese of Helena. The school's mission statement sets out its obligation to the Catholic Church. It also speaks toward the importance of academic and intellectual freedom.

"As an academic community, Carroll College affirms its commitment to the principle of freedom of inquiry in the process of investigating, understanding, critically reflecting upon, and finally, judging reality and truth in all fields of human knowledge," the statement reads.

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com