When radical abortion supporters and Antifa shut down Students for Life of America (SFLA) President Kristan Hawkins’ speaking event earlier this semester at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), they may have thought that was the end of it. They may have assumed that via their violence and intolerant disruption, they had gotten rid of her. However, they’ll need to think again because she’s coming back. Her voice for the voiceless will be heard on campus — here’s what happened:
After receiving a demand letter from SFLA legal counsel along with the Alliance Defending Freedom, the VCU administration reached out to invite Hawkins back for a chance to speak (other demands have yet to be resolved). She will now be coming back to redo her stop of the ‘Lies Pro-Choicers Believe’ speaking tour at VCU on April 26, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. EST at the Richmond Salon building, Room 1 and 4 (which will be made into one space for the event). Hawkins looks forward to speaking peacefully and productively with pro-life and pro-abortion students — because if you can’t converse freely on a college campus, where will you be able to have these discussions? If we teach students they don’t need to be civil in the classroom, we shouldn’t expect any different once they’re in their careers.
The SFLA group at VCU is also excited to have Hawkins come back to campus — she’s known for her dynamic presentation and Q&A sessions (click HERE to watch some of her best clips) — and the group missed their previous opportunity to hear her when the event was shut down. VCU Students for Life President Autumn Walser, who was assaulted during the VCU event and had to be attended to by emergency medical services, also noted that regardless of pro-abortion bullying, she’s seen their group positively grow. She stated:
“The Students for Life group at VCU has seen so much growth during our first year as a group. Much of this growth has been since we started advertising for our March 29th event, hosting Kristan Hawkins and Isabel Brown. In spite of the backlash and violence at the event, we gained even more pro-life members. Our group has almost doubled since early March as we currently have nearly 40 members. Despite the pro-abortion crowd wanting to silence us, they actually provided us great visibility.”
That’s right; try as they might to erase the Pro-Life Generation, the abortion lobby’s efforts to muzzle the pro-life movement are being met with resistance as well as victories for pro-life free speech. SFLA takes First Amendment violations against our student groups very seriously, as SFLA Legal Correspondent Olivia Garza told the Daily Caller on the near 100 free speech violations that have been reported this school year, saying:
“Incidents have never poured in like this before, and it’s very clear that following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, life for pro-life students on campus has changed drastically. The abortion lobby has become more intolerant and hostile, and I’m so proud of our students for staying the course regardless of obstacles put in their path. We will continue to fight for their right to free speech.”
Stay tuned to the SFLA blog to hear how Hawkins’ second stop at VCU goes; time will tell whether the school administration keeps radical abortion protestors in check this time.
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