School may be back in session, but Students for Life of America (SFLA) didn’t take the summer off. The team rolled up our sleeves to prepare for an unforgettable fall semester, ready to challenge abortion lies on campus and change hearts and minds through a new campus tour, All Human Life is Valuable, fueled by our unwavering passion for Life… while adding a projected 150 Students for Life groups this school year to our already-impressive 1,575 nationwide. 

Of course, we hope our goal of having an “unforgettable” fall doesn’t include vandalism, physical assaults, or verbal attacks, but we’d be naïve to think those challenges won’t make an appearance.  

For several years now, SFLA has experienced different forms of school censorship, a topic SFLA President Kristan Hawkins wrote about in a 2018 Wall Street Journal op-ed. Violations commonly include:    

1. The vandalization and outright theft of displays and signs.    

2. A virtual poll tax on speech, often in the form of security fees that are generally not charged to all speakers.    

3. A Heckler’s Veto, in which schools cancel or move events when extremist groups or a disgruntled student oppose a speaker.    

4. A slow walk to nowhere when a pattern of delays for approval of events or clubs creates a virtual veto of student speech.     

5. A not-even-separate-but-equal accommodation, as schools refuse similar support for pro-life students as given to others.    

6. A religious gag rule in which schools may allow students to speak as long as they stay silent about faith.    

7. A required “Trigger Warning” when the school signals through signs posted in the areas where pro-life speech is taking place that such speech is ‘controversial and offensive’ and should be possibly avoided (or even protested).     

8. A ‘power of the purse’ veto involving biased use of student fees.    

9. A threat of violence veto when schools can’t control their violent students.  

These free speech violations are as relevant today as they were back in 2018 when Hawkins released her op-ed. Just check out the free speech infringements we had last school year, which include Cemetery of the Innocents vandalizations, group approval issues, campus mobbing, touring setbacks brought on by school administrations, and more.   

READ: Facing Free Speech Challenges, Students for Life of America Expands to Roughly Half of All Private and Public Universities Nationwide During the 2024-2025 School Year  

The fight has never been in vain—and never will be—as our growth speaks for itself. Last school year, SFLA hit remarkable milestones:  

• 1,575 active Students for Life groups across the country, spanning homeschools, colleges, graduate programs, high schools, and middle schools.  

• 48% of private and Christian colleges and universities and 57% of public colleges and universities now have a Students for Life presence.  

• 230,000 students trained and equipped to stand for Life.  

Last school year, SFLA launched two powerful campus campaigns: “Go Fund Yourself” and “Think Before You Drink.” These tours spotlighted the urgent need to defund Planned Parenthood and other abortion vendors, amplifying awareness around one of the most pressing abortion issues today: Chemical Abortion Pills.   

These dangerous pills account for over 60% of abortions in the United States, and that number is likely even higher due to the absence of a National Abortion Reporting Law. Beyond ending the lives of the preborn and causing serious harm to their mothers, Chemical Abortion Pills also pollute America’s waterways, posing a threat to public health and the environment.  

This year, we’re building on previous goals, including launching a projected 150 new student groups and unveiling a powerful campus tour theme rooted in timeless truth. As a part of this semester’s National Campus Tour, All Human Life is Valuable, students will be invited to sign a petition urging Congress to protect human Life and hold the line with pro-life legislation. This effort will span 160 campuses across 40 states and further amplify SFLA’s growing national impact.  

READ: ACLU INSISTS Illegals Should Have More Rights Than Preborn Americans: Why the 14th Amendment Matters  

After all, there is one defining quality that all humans share, regardless of age, ability, or circumstance. Abortion extremists may deny it, but being human, whether born or preborn, is never a reason for exclusion. The Pro-Life Generation understands that basing human value on arbitrary traits like viability, consciousness, race, or religion opens the door to dangerous discrimination.  

And there is no better place to confront that discrimination than the breeding ground for indoctrination: college and university campuses.   

Our Regional Coordinators and Campus Formation Coordinators challenge students every day in every state to rethink what they’ve been taught about the conditional value of human life.  

In abortion sanctuary states like California, the message of Life is a breath of fresh and unfamiliar air, as California and Nevada Regional Coordinator Christian Alan sees daily at schools as he actively encourages students to get involved.   

“This tour will be the furthest they have gone so far in challenging the abortion narrative on their campus and speaking up for Life,” Alan noted. “And in that discourse, I am hopeful that we can direct the attention of their peers to learning more about the alternatives to abortion and joining us in campaigns to support parents of young and preborn children in need.”  

Campus Formation Coordinator Amelia Akins emphasized the importance of finding “common ground,” which she describes as a “critical aspect” of changing hearts and minds. She hopes that this tour will “help students on campus realize they agree with the pro-life message more than they might think,” adding that she’s “eager to have productive conversations to shift the culture to be more life-affirming!”   

READ: From Passion to Purpose: How the Unplanned Movie Changed My Life  

Even with a more free speech-friendly Presidential administration in place, our national team anticipates challenges. Just as strongly, however, we expect to overcome them. Not simply through willpower, but because we believe that truth, especially the truth about the value of Life, always prevails.  

We are energized for everything this semester will bring – even the chaos! – and we can’t wait to gather & share the stories of hearts and minds changing across the nation throughout the fall. 

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