When the Cardinal Newman Society recently unveiled the results of their investigative report “A Scandalous Relationship: Catholic Colleges and Planned Parenthood,” it detailed more than 150 connections demonstrating Catholic institutions of higher education supporting and linking online to Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest provider of abortions.

Not even a month later, as of May 2, the Cardinal Newman Society is reporting that 29 of the online links have been removed.

Among schools removing links: University of St. Thomas and The College of St. Catherine in Minnesota and The University of Dayton in Ohio.

“We’re excited. That’s nearly 20%,” said Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society. “The tide is turning. These schools don’t want a bad reputation. We expect to see more changes in the upcoming weeks.”

I asked Reilly whether the removal of such links was necessarily a good thing, in that the connections may remain, but only hidden from the public.

“These aren’t the biggest problems. They point to larger problems at these institutions,” said Reilly. “The underlying problems at these colleges are still there and need to be addressed, and that takes time. But we do know that, as often happens at these institutions, problem faculty, staff and students create these links, and it’s not until we bring it to the attention of college officials that they’re able to do anything about it.”

Register senior writer Tim Drake writes from St. Joseph, Minnesota.