It’s been months since North Dakota high school student Brigid O’Keefe, inspired by her trip to DC for the annual March for Life, first tried to start a pro-life group at her school. Initially Fargo North High School denied her request, and when she and others protested, they passed the case on to the district.
The district deemed their club an “outside group”—meaning, according to O’Keefe, that they are “discouraged” from passing out materials or interacting with others students. They cannot use their school name in anything related to their club, and the school will not announce any of their meetings or events. These restrictions are not placed on any similar clubs at the school.
“We have the right to free speech within our school,” O’Keefe told local KVLY.
Meanwhile, a second North Dakota student, Katie McPherson, had been having similar troubles at Fargo Davies High School since September 2014. Her requests to start a pro-life group were also repeatedly delayed, and she was told she would not be allowed to use the school name or fundraise—unlike every other student group at her high school.
Students for Life of America reached out to the Thomas More Society law firm for help, and the firm took on both cases. In their complaint letter they write that these actions are “a violation of the students’ rights under both the Federal Equal Access Act (EAA) and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
The EAA makes it illegal for a publicly-funded school to deny equal access or opportunity to students who want to hold meetings, on the basis of “the religious, political, philosophical, or other content of the speech at such meetings.” It also bans the schools from placing extra conditions on certain clubs.
Jocelyn Floyd, Associate Counsel of Thomas More Society, pointed out to KVLY that these schools do allow gay-straight alliance groups, and argued that students should have equal access to all of “the controversial hot-button issues” facing the nation.
“Public schools are required by law to treat all student groups equally,” Floyd said in a statement. “However, the School District and administrators at Fargo North and Davies High Schools are treating pro-life students as second class citizens, forcing them to abide by a policy that was designed to protect students from exploitation by businesses, not to censor the students’ own free speech.”
Fargo Public Schools told the Daily Caller News Foundation they are taking the case “seriously” but not commenting before their attorney reviews the letter.
Watch O’Keefe’s interview with KVLY below:
