News of continued violations of High School and College Students’ First Amendment Free Speech rights doesn’t completely capture the pattern of abuse that Students for Life of America is observing. So we created a visual to illustrate the oppositions students are facing when they try to speak to their peers about the violence of abortion to women and their unborn children and offer both encouragement and information about options other than abortion.
To create the visual, SFLA compiled a map of vandalizations against pro-life speech that have occurred since 2012. The map covers over 40 incidents and counting, including destroyed chalkings, stolen pro-life signs, and vandalized crosses. Some schools, such as Northern Kentucky University, have been repeatedly vandalized.
SFLA President Kristan Hawkins observed: “Not only does this map show the kind of opposition our students face daily as they speak up for the humanity of a preborn baby and the life-affirming options that women have, it is a testament to the courage and commitment of the pro-life generation. They will not let the radical abortion lobby prevent them from doing the right thing and encouraging their peers to choose life for their children. That’s why we have programs like ‘Pregnant on Campus.’ And we promise you that even when abortion activists destroy our peaceful message, we will be back, more determined to let women know that we are here to help them and their children, born and preborn.”
Some of the recent instances include:
Northern Kentucky University: Vandals tore up a “Cemetery of the Innocents” display on campus in 2017, and other years prior. The display commemorates lives lost to abortion, and includes a number of crosses. Even though this has been happening since at least 2006, the school has yet to come up with a clear solution for ending these heinous acts.
St. Louis University: At a similar display, students at the Catholic university tore up crosses, commemorating victims of violence, such as abortion and homicide. Worse, this happened twice in two weeks. While the university has photos of what happened, there has been little progress. The university should find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Baldwin Wallace University: Students in the group wrote down pro-life messages on the ground. The messages affirmed the love for both woman and child, and offered messages of hope for people dealing with the effects of an abortion. Pro-abortion students bragged about destroying the chalkings on social media, and used the occasion to fundraise for abortion. The pro-life students, however, raised money for pregnancy resource centers.
Other incidences of violence against our group include: Administrators destroying chalkings at Kutztown University, vandals throwing paint on a display at Portland State University, and a display of graduation cords (to highlight ‘missing students’ who were killed by abortion) at University of Miami.
Students for Life of America will continue to update the map and make known every vandalization against pro-life displays on campus. College campuses should be places where free speech and debate can flourish.
Please contact Kristi Hamrick at khamrick@studentsforlife.org for interviews.