Even though the majority of our nation and our generation is pro-life, many high school and college administrations still treat those with pro-life views as second class citizens, acting as if we should just be grateful when they let us host a speaker or put up a flyer they have tried to censor.
Their excuse is always the same: “Your display/flyer/speaker is too offensive to others and too disruptive to our learning environment.”
And I have to agree with them one point, abortion is offensive. Deceiving women and killing babies is offensive. It offends me, which is why I seek to abolish abortion. But how have we become a society that shields young people, those most targeted by the abortion industry, from discussing topics that might be uncomfortable or offend their sensibilities?
Last time I checked, sex ed class in high school wasn’t exactly comfortable for anyone and was pretty offensive to me. Yet, I remember having to talk openly about genital warts, female condoms, and sexual preferences.
When administrations like that of Wilson High School in Tacoma, Washington, which told their Students for Life group that putting up some pro-life flyers was “too disruptive,"and that of the University of Alabama, which took down a home-made display questioning the safety of abortion because it was “too offensive,” they not only violate the constitution but they also make a mockery of their own educational institution.
When a school attempts to shield their students from honest dialogue and debate of a fundamental human rights issue, are they really doing a justice for their students?
No. They are simply sparing the administration the extra work of having to acknowledge all of their students’ constitutional rights and forcing administrators to deal with an issue they might be personally uncomfortable or disagree with.
Before we took their case of discrimination public, Wilson High School had this policy for flyers posted by students, which gave them the power to censor any student:
“Acceptable posters do not offend staff or students, put others down if they have a different belief/opinion, or otherwise cause disruption.”
Now, thanks to our legal partners and some grassroots pressure by our supporters at Students for Life, Wilson High School knows better than to discriminate and treat their Students for Life group differently than other groups. And the University of Alabama has allowed Bama Students for Life to re-post their display and has apologized.
Regrettably though, our team at Students for Life of America went public with another story of discrimination today, this time coming out of Branford High School in Connecticut Our Students for Life group there has been fighting for their right to exist since they formed last winter --- witnessing a school administrator throw their life-like fetal models off of their education table, dealing with an unmerited delay in getting their club approved, and hearing from their principal that even though other clubs can recruit and educate during lunch, they cannot.
Apparently, the Branford High School administration hasn't gotten the message yet and believes it can bully their pro-life students with no consequence. But just like Wilson High School and the University of Alabama, they too will learn an important lesson this week, discrimination of pro-life students will not be tolerated and justice for these abortion abolitionists will be won.
Let’s hope other high schools and universities across America learn Branford High's mistakes.
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