A group of pro-life students, led by senior Liz Castro and junior Grace Schairer, wanted to start a chapter of Students for Life at Parkland High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which they would call “Trojans for Life.”
However, their proposal was rejected by the school’s administration because they felt it was too “political” and “controversial.” That same fear didn’t stop the school from approving the formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance — raising the question of a double standard.
One would think that any public school would pride itself on having a wide variety of extracurricular activities representing diverse ideas and opinions. It would be interesting to see if the school would also reject the proposal to form a feminist group. It would certainly fall under the category of “political” and “controversial.” However, the feminist group could very well get approved since its belief systems are in line with the politically correct narrative supported by much of academia.
Unfortunately, it seems as if many school officials across the United States do not believe that the First Amendment applies to pro-lifers.
Just recently, an assistant principal at a Philadelphia-area high school was placed on leave and later resigned after a video surfaced of him yelling at pro-life teens. They were demonstrating on public property outside his school, which they were well within their right to do. In addition to swearing at the teens and accusing them of harassing his students, the assistant principal told them “you can go to hell where they are,” referring to aborted babies. There is definitely an attempt by those in power to put a muzzle on the pro-life movement.
Fortunately, the pro-life students at Parkland High School are not backing down. They’re seeking legal counsel in their effort to start the club.
The Thomas More Society, writing on behalf of the pro-life students and Students for Life of America, sent a letter to the school principal and the Parkland School District Superintendent. In the letter, they say that the school’s refusal to allow the formation of the pro-life club violates the First Amendment as well as the school district’s own policy which permits students to form clubs with “any lawful objective.”
The letter also discusses the Federal Equal Access Act, which states that it is “unlawful for any public secondary school which receives Federal financial assistance…to deny equal access or fair opportunity or to discriminate against, any students who wish to conduct a meeting…on the basis of the religious, political, philosophical or other content of the speech at such meetings.” In other words, the pro-life students have the right to form a pro-life club.
The good news is that summer vacation is rapidly approaching. Hopefully, in addition to enjoying the nice weather, the administrators at Parkland High School will reconsider their decision and allow the Trojans for Life to begin holding meetings at the beginning of the next school year.
