Recent Victory for Pro-life Speech

Author: ADF Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco

David French recently posted a stirring Students for Life of America video.  As the video shows, college students are rapidly becoming the leaders of the pro-life movement.   This generation’s commitment to saving the unborn is no doubt a product of estimates that one/third of this generation lost their lives to the barbaric practice of abortion.   Oh, the horrors wrought by Roe v. Wade.

A primary way students promote the pro-life cause on campus is through the formation of pro-life student groups.  But formation is not enough.  To be able to effectively promote their message on campus, student groups must first obtain “recognition” from their university.  “Recognition” grants student groups access to innumerable avenues of communication that allow them to get their message out and recruit new members.  Without recognition, a student group cannot participate in the marketplace of ideas that is supposed to be the hallmark of a public university campus.  Put simply, no recognition = no speech.

Well, a Students for Life student group recently ran into a problem securing recognition at the University at Buffalo.  At UB, the student association, which is a state actor to which the protections of the First Amendment fully apply, actually makes decisions regarding recognition of student groups.  The Students for Life group submitted its application for recognition in May 2010 and 10 months later had still not received recognition. While the student association provided numerous (unconvincing) excuses for the delay, the bottom line was this: every day the student association withheld recognition from the Students for Life group was another day the group’s pro-life message was silenced, and its constitutional rights violated.

ADF was advised of this ongoing violation of the group’s First Amendment rights at around month 9 and 3/4, and quickly sent a letter asking the student association to immediately recognize the group or provide a legitimate reason for why recognition was being withheld.  Big surprise, the Students for Life group received recognition the same day the student association received the ADF letter.  The student association disclaimed any wrong doing, which is the typical response in such circumstances.  But the important thing is not assigning blame, but that the Students for Life student group now has the same ability as all other student groups at UB to express their pro-life message.  No doubt, more hearts and minds will be won to the pro-life cause as a result of this group’s efforts.

This post originally appeared here.