Younger generations are fighting back.
Yesterday, the Cardiff University Students' Union, in Wales
voted down a motion that would have made the Students' Union officially pro-choice and effectively banned pro-life activities.The motion, clearly pro-abortion, was an attempt to prevent members of the students' union from expressing dissident views from it, prompting alarm about freedom of speech on campus.
Clauses within the motion included preventing "affiliated societies and groups from taking part in anti-choice protests or rallies outside of abortion clinics and under the banner of the student’s union," with another part saying:
"Any information about abortion or contraception disseminated, distributed or presented in union or university buildings must be unbiased and not shame those who choose to have abortions, and must be academically referenced."The motion would have also committed the Students' Union to campaigning against protests outside abortion clinics and opposing "any restrictions to abortion or contraceptive rights being passed through Parliament or the National Assembly for Wales." [Emphases mine]
Jonathan O’Connell, president of Cardiff Students for Life, said:
“This motion simply cannot be allowed to pass. The university environment has long been a bastion of free speech, which the proposed motion seeks to attack. There are huge implications in enforcing a single ideology or political viewpoint across the whole student populace; not least of all it restricts students’ freedom of expression as well as directly limiting the religious freedom of certain student groups.
“Declaring the university officially pro-choice is akin to declaring the university affiliated with a single political party, which obviously in the 21st century would be totally unthinkable.”
Alithea Williams, vice-chair of the Alliance of Pro-Life Students, called the motion a "censorious and illiberal attack on free speech" which “seeks to impose a uniform ideological viewpoint on the entire student body, and tramples upon the right to freedom of speech and expression of those who disagree". She added that “all views, including the pro-life voice, must be allowed to be heard.”
Those who concocted this motion are true heirs to Stalin. The motion was heavily defeated. The "Keep Cardiff Uni Free" Facebook page declares that it has been rejected by an overwhelming show of hands, with no official count needed.
This victory is particularly welcome as the the situation of UK universities is getting pretty dire.
Last week a debate about abortion at Oxford University was cancelled.
The debate would have been between journalists Tim Stanley, anti-abortion, and Brendan O'Neill, pro-abortion, debating the motion "This house believes abortion culture harms us all".
It was cancelled simply because angry feminists (when are they not angry?) didn't like the fact that the pro-life position was given a chance to be aired and not totally suppressed. So they set up a Facebook page threatening to disrupt the event.
The Wall Street Journal found this so disgusting that it published an editorial on it, "Intolerance at Oxford", mauling student leaders who can’t tolerate hearing different opinions from their own.
In September, Dundee University Students' Association banned the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) from its Freshers' Fayre, of which SPUC had been part in previous years.
And Oxford University Students' Union banned anti-abortion group Life from advertising at the university.
It's not just pro-life organisations that are under attack from student unions, it's UKIP too. Yesterday the University of East Anglia stopped an event from going ahead because it would have featured UKIP speakers. The Students' Union justified this move with claims that it would have alarmed or frightened students and caused a "breach of the peace".
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