As Students for Life of America (SFLA) continues to grow and exceed expectations on the national playing field, our students face even more adversity as they fight for their First Amendment rights. The post-Roe 2023-24 school year yielded a historic record of free speech issues, with more than 100 student groups reporting First Amendment violations to SFLA. The 2023-2024 school year also brought many unique challenges to our student groups, with 75 violations reported. SFLA remains bold against our adversaries and continues fighting for Life and our students’ free speech. We need a voice to speak up for the voiceless in the womb.  

Here are only a few examples of how we’ve fought back.  

University of Kentucky (Lexington, KY)  

The Pro-Life Wildcats group at the University of Kentucky was left speechless this year when their school refused to get involved with their reports of vandalism throughout the school year. Pro-Life Wildcats made several reports to their school about their recruitment and event flyers being torn down by other students right in front of them but to no avail.

SFLA Legal Counsel stepped in this spring semester to aid the students so that they could continue marketing their club to other students without the threat of vandalism. 

University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) 

Vandals trashed a Cemetery of the Innocents set up by Students for Life at the University of Florida (UF). Florida Regional Coordinator Kristen Wayne was on the ground when students stepped on the Cemetery of the Innocents and broke the crosses, even claiming to play “hopscotch.” 

READ: Smashing and Trashing in the Sunshine State: Cemetery of the Innocents Gets Vandalized, But that Won’t Stop the Pro-Life Generation from Reaching the Youth  

“We turned around when we heard the sound of breaking wood to see a male student stomping on our crosses,” said Katie Yarborough, president of Students for Life at UF and SFLA student spokesperson. “When we asked him why he was doing this, he responded by saying it was ‘free dopamine.’” 

SFLA filed a police report and is working with campus police to resolve this issue and investigate.   

Sixteen Students for Life Groups Experienced Sidewalk Chalk Vandalism on National Pro-Life Chalk Day

National Pro-Life Chalk Day yielded beautiful sidewalk chalk art, but unfortunately it also called pro-abortion vandals. Sixteen pro-life groups experienced vandalism: 

1. Westmont College, CA 

2. University of Northern Colorado, CO 

3. Florida State University, FL 

4. University of West Florida, FL 

5. Butler University, IN 

6. Fort Hays State University, KS 

7. University of Montana, MT 

8. University of North Carolina – Greensboro, NC 

9. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, NC 

10. New Mexico State University – Albuquerque, NM 

11. Lorain County Community College, OH 

12. Ohio University, OH 

13. Bowling Green State University, OH 

14. East Tennessee State University, TN 

15. Texas State University, TX 

16. Stephen F. Austin University, TX 

READ: National Pro-Life Chalk Day’s Biggest Losers: Abortion-Supporting Vandals 

Despite these cowardly attempts to quench the pro-life fire, the Pro-Life Generation has no intention of stopping.  

Florida International University 

An unidentified professor approached SFLA and FIU’s table and declared they were ill-informed about abortion because, unlike him, they didn’t have Ph.Ds.   

In a video, the increasingly hostile professor attacked the students for being uneducated, religious, and uninformed, and behaved in an intimidating way, insisting that abortion is a woman’s choice, chanting, “She can kill it!” multiple times.   

 He returned to apologize and attempted to record the SFLA group, claiming they weren’t being harassed. To see whether you agree, click here for the video.   

READ: Smug Professor Harasses SFLA College Students at Florida International University 

University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill – Chapel Hill, NC  

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) agreed to back down after surprising the campus SFLA group — called the “Carolina Students for Life” — with seemingly discriminatory fees following a SFLA President Kristan Hawkins speaking tour stop at the school last fall.  

After hosting Hawkins, Carolina Students for Life received a final security invoice of more than seventeen times the amount of the original security estimate.  

To top it off, the school also did not complete their own protocols regarding event payment fees. The administration neglected to share any accurate estimates with Carolina Students for Life prior to their event, and the student group was consequently shocked by the final invoices. 

After sending a demand letter to the UNC administration to fight some of these charges, the school agreed to drop all the UNC police department related security fees and some of the other administrative fees. 

To read more about this SFLA victory, click HERE.  

Lorain County Community College (Elyria, OH) 

Students for Life at Lorain Community College were censored and micromanaged all semester.  

After many issues with hosting events, promoting club activity, and having to get approval for every material and message that the club used publicly, the club finally had had enough of its mistreatment by the school.  

SFLA’s legal counsel sent a demand letter to the school, demanding that they cease their discrimination against Students for Life at Lorain. Just days after the demand letter was sent, the group’s rights to host and market their events were restored. 

Bowling Green State University   

Justice is on the horizon in Ohio as a pro-abortion suspect, Whitney Durant, who goes by Soren Monroe, was arrested and pleaded guilty for vandalizing a local Pregnancy Resource Center (PRC) — and this perpetrator is the same student who has been actively bullying a SFLA group at Bowling Green State University.  

READ: Pro-Abortion Student Gets Slap on the Wrist for Pregnancy Center Vandalism, Showing Blatant Hypocrisy of the FACE Act 

The SFLA group, known as the Falcons for Life, has been caught up in this pro-abortion hostility due to volunteering at the PRC and engaging peacefully on campus. 

“Liars,” “Fund Abortion,” “Abort God,” “Fake Clinic,” and “Jane’s Revenge” were all vicious slogans spray painted onto the facility. Though Durant pleaded not guilty in 2023, she had a change of heart at her plea hearing, where she officially pleaded guilty.   

Marquette High School 

Marquette Students for Life (MSFL) fought for their First Amendment rights all school year after their request to be an official student organization on campus was denied by the school.  

READ: Did Someone Forget the First Amendment? Public High School Denies SFLA Group Because It Didn’t “Feel Right 

Instead of giving up like many high school students would, MSFL reached out to SFLA’s legal team. SFLA’s lawyers drafted and sent a demand letter to Marquette High School, stating that denying an SFLA club violated Strobel and Barton’s First Amendment rights. As a result, the school restored the club’s rights. 

East Career Technical Academy – Las Vegas, NV 

And lastly, a huge win. 

SFLA successfully settled a free-speech lawsuit against East Career Technical Academy (ECTA) and the Clark County School District (CCSD) with the help of Thomas More Society and the O’Mara Law Firm.  

The lawsuit was filed in September 2022 against ECTA and CCSD with student plaintiffs from ECTA Students for Life of America’s leadership team.  

In 2021, Students for Life at ECTA noticed that their school treated them differently than other student clubs. While other clubs could post flyers in the school hallways and write announcements for the school newspaper, ECTA Students for Life were denied these rights by their school. ECTA Students for Life’s flyers, which said, “I reject abortion,” were considered “too controversial” by their public high school.   

Plaintiff Felipe Avila, former president of the ECTA SFLA chapter, said he was harassed and threatened in the hallways and online. He was even stalked by a peer, but the school did nothing.   

To watch Avila discuss the case and his experience of being persecuted as a pro-life student, click HERE. 

Now, ECTA Students for Life will finally be treated with the same privileges and rights as other student clubs.   

Students for Life of America strives to help protect all our students’ First Amendment rights. If you want to support our efforts to protect free speech on campuses nationwide, click here. 

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