Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., is accusing Stanford University of punishing a graduate student who refused to pay dues to a union that supported abortion rights and gender transitioning procedures, Blaze News reported Thursday.

In a letter dated Thursday, Cassidy wrote that he was "seriously concerned" over the plight of a graduate student who was threatened with termination as a teaching assistant if he did not pay dues to the Stanford Graduate Workers Union, which sends two-thirds of its dues to the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.

At issue is that UE "supports abortion and taxpayer-funded gender transition procedures, positions that run contrary to the religious beliefs" of the affected student, Cassidy wrote.

"Forcing student workers to fund such activities has a chilling effect on speech and, presumably, would discourage students with certain religious views from applying to or attending Stanford University," Cassidy said in the letter.

He added, "Student workers should not be compelled to spend their hard-earned dollars funding organizations that use those same funds to advance causes that violate deeply held religious beliefs."

Stanford told Blaze News that it had received Cassidy's letter, adding it looked "forward to reviewing it and discussing it with his office."

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