A student group demanded Wednesday that a Pennsylvania high school approve a pro-life club after administration rejected the club, allegedly on the basis of it being too “controversial” and “political.”
Students for Life of America, which boasts chapters at schools nationwide, sent the letter requesting the decision reversal to Parkland High School, according to a press release obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. While Parkland rejected the pro-life group, the school currently has a Multi-Cultural Leadership Club, Political Science Club, and Gay Straight Alliance.
Elizabeth Castro and Grace Schairer, co-founders of the proposed pro-life group, claim that Assistant Principal Jude Sandt rejected the formation of the club in March because pro-life messages are too “controversial” and “political.”
In April, Castro emailed Sandt to discover how the group could obtain approval, but she received no response.
Jocelyn Floyd, a Thomas More Society special counsel representing the pro-life students, said that U.S. law protects the establishment of the club.
“This administration’s denial of a pro-life club is especially surprising,” she elaborated, “because this district’s policy expressly allows students to form clubs with ‘any lawful objective.'”
“Schools put up unnecessary and unconstitutional obstacles when [pro-life high school students] try to start their Students for Life clubs,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, in the statement sent to TheDCNF. “The school’s baseless claim that the club would be too ‘controversial’ and ‘political’ is a common excuse we hear – and it’s always infringing on the First Amendment rights of pro-life students, treating them as second-class citizens because they happen to want to educate their peers on the horrors of abortion and help pregnant and parenting students at their school.”
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to Parkland High School but received no comment in time for press.
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