Pro-life activist Abby Johnson spoke at Colorado University-Boulder earlier this month, which was no easy feat thanks to university administrators. The campus Students for Life group began preparing for Johnson in January, but were barraged with questions and denied funding because of their views.
Students for Life of America directed the students to the legal counsel of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian non-profit.
Denying funding based on the group’s views was an unconstitutional violation of their First Amendment rights, as ADF’s Travis Barham explained in a letter to the CU-Boulder administration and in a blog post.
The Cultural Events Board, which controls funds from the student activity fee, asked seven questions, including if the students would be willing to host another speaker who wouldn’t attack Planned Parenthood. They also wanted to know if Johnson, a former director of Planned Parenthood, would present an “education perspective.”
The Board decided there was “a concern for a lack of educational dialogue created around the topic of pro-life at the event,” which was the “main reason for declining funding.” Further, it was determined Johnson would “talk about Planned Parenthood abortion practices but will not provide an unbiased view on pro-life issues.”
“The Board clearly had a problem with SFL’s pro-life views,” Barham wrote. While the group denied funding for Johnson because of her pro-life views, other biases had not been a problem before.
Funding had been approved by the Cultural Events Board for Angela Davis, former leader of the Communist Party USA; Janet Mock, a transgender activist; Cornel West, an activist and member of Democratic Socialists of America; and Jose Antonio Vargas, who is in favor of illegal immigration. Those speakers were approved without suggesting a sort of balanced discussion as the board wanted for Abby Johnson.
After Barham sent the letter on behalf of ADF, students received 98 percent of their requested funding, with $6,000 being paid for the speaking engagement, the DailyCamera reported.
Johnson spoke on April 11 to a crowd of 300 and addressed the “legal hustling,” noting that “they don’t want a pro-life message, apparently, on this campus, but we’re going to give it to ’em anyway,” to much applause. “Don’t be silent. Not now. Not on this issue. We can’t afford it. These babies can’t afford it,” she told the crowd.
Only 20 percent of students identify as conservative on the CU-Boulder campus, as DailyCamera referenced. Johnson’s event is also referenced in a profile of the Students for Life group and freshman President Kayla Kuhn.
