Above, Angelique Clark (See interview below.)

January 2016 – Over the last year, many headlines have featured high school students fighting for the right to establish pro-life clubs in their schools. As each new story surfaced, the more intriguing the issue became. What is the backstory? Why is this suddenly big news?

Missy Stone, national high school program coordinator of Students for Life of America, provided some insight. She told AFA Journal that when she was hired in January 2013, “Students for Life had only been actively working with college groups. I took what was already successful and just tweaked it and made it fit into the high school world.”

Stone had become involved in the pro-life movement at age 14 but didn’t know how to exercise her life affirming principles or how to fulfill her desire to influence her peers. At age 23, after earning a degree in political science from University of Southern Mississippi, Stone said the SFLA opportunity just fell into her lap.

“I had no idea how to do this,” she explained. “But the Lord knows what works better than I do. And it just exploded.”

Stone describes those who were born after the Roe v Wade decision in 1973 as both victims and survivors of abortion.

“This generation is very justice focused,” she explained. “And they take it personally. They survived abortion, but they are missing siblings, and their moms are hurting as a result. At the same time, they are now being targeted for abortions.

“When I talk to high school students they are kind of wide eyed. This is such a big issue, and there are so many things to do. Part of our job is breaking it down and making it doable.”

Since 2013, the number of high school SFLA groups has grown from 120 to nearly 500 across the nation. “The high school side of what we do is just snowballing,” said Stone. “It is amazing to watch those students graduate and then go into college and become group leaders. They are already trained and know what to do.”

Success breeds opposition?
But along with exponential growth comes opposition. Thomas More Society works with SFLA to provide legal counsel for high school students who meet resistance in attempting to launch pro-life clubs, a common occurrence. SFLA leaders work hard to prepare students for possible challenges they will face.

“We give them a list of things their administration might try to do, and we give them the steps to take,” explained Stone. “And then we go to the school and let the administration know we’re behind the students – that they have rights. And once we just give them that little nudge, they back down. Usually, they just have to be reminded.”

TMS attorney Jocelyn Floyd told AFA Journal that five cases went to the “demand letter” level last year, i.e., TMS wrote schools explaining and demanding students’ rights. One such case went to court. (See below.)

The students’ rights have prevailed in every case. Still, the overwhelming amount of time and effort required of students to keep pushing back results in some of them giving up.

Floyd encourages a proactive approach that will pave the way for legal treatment of students wishing to start pro-life clubs. Local school policies regarding student clubs can be obtained online or by request, and TMS will review them free of charge. 

Hostile or uninformed?
According to Floyd, some administrators exhibit undertones of hostility because they simply disagree with the pro-life message. But more often, they misunderstand what the First Amendment says about religious speech, or they are uninformed about the Equal Access Act, a 1984 federal statute that governs student clubs.

Once a school accepts federal funds, it is bound by the EAA which specifies that if just one non-curriculum related club is allowed, the school must then allow all non-curriculum related clubs on an equal basis without regard for the content, whether it is religious, political, philosophical, etc.

Some schools attempt to get out from under the EAA by incorrectly calling all of their clubs “curriculum-related.” However, just because a club has an educational element loosely associated with a particular subject, it doesn’t automatically meet the standard. For example, unless the school actually has an official school chess class, a student-organized chess club is not curriculum-related. Thus, it cannot be considered curriculum-related simply because math skills are utilized.

If a school rejects a student club application just because the subject matter is controversial in nature, it is in clear violation of the EAA.

Often, administrators are concerned with violating the First Amendment Establishment Clause, which prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.” The clause forbids actions that unduly favor one religion over another, including the preference of religion over non-religion and non-religion over religion.

“A lot of them are concerned about appearing to endorse or prefer religion,” explained Floyd. “And that is a valid consideration on their part, but the problem is that they don’t actually understand how it works in the schools.”

In traditional public forums like streets, parking lots, and sidewalks, there is very little the government can do to limit speech. While a school is a more limited public forum predominantly designed for the purpose of educating, the students’ constitutional right to free speech still applies.

“Courts have consistently held that when it comes to governmental entities,” Floyd said, “they have to be neutral to religion. Neutrality means allowing it on an equal basis – not excluding it wholesale. By trying to avoid a bias in favor of religion, they are showing a bias against religion. In either direction, that bias is unconstitutional.”

And students know it.

They are fighting for their constitutional rights, not from selfish motives, but to protect the rights of others – the unborn. And they are doing it valiantly.   

Pro-life persistence pays
As a 15-year-old sophomore, Angelique Clark submitted an application for a pro-life club in August 2014, at West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada. When she heard through another student that the application had been denied, she requested a meeting with the vice principal.

AFA Journal: Were you surprised when you learned of the denial?
Angelique Clark: It was very surprising. I felt extremely disappointed in the administration for denying the application and for the reasons they provided.

AFAJ: What were the reasons?
AC: It was too controversial, the pro-choice people would feel left out by having a pro-life club. He also said that there were more qualified people to talk about it.

AFAJ: What happened next?
AC: After that meeting I researched the law and wrote my administration a letter. And when they didn’t reply, I contacted Students for Life, and the Thomas More Society sent a demand letter.

When the district ignored the demand letter, Thomas More Society filed suit. A year after the application was submitted, the first pro-life club meeting was held. The case was officially dismissed in November 2015 after the district revised its policies to reflect consistency with the law.

____________________
• Thomas More Society 
Jocelyn Floyd 19 S. LaSalle Street Suite 603 Chicago, IL 60603 312-782-1680 Thomasmoresociety.org
• Students for Life of America 
Missy Stone 9900 Courthouse Road Spotsylvania, VA 22553 540-834-4600 Studentsforlife.org