Christian Message Boards: College Group Wins Pro-Life Dispute

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Posted by barrykind (Member # 35) on :

College Group Wins Pro-Life Dispute

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A federal judge has ruled in favor of a Christian pro-life student group that was prohibited by a Texas college from displaying its anti-abortion exhibit. Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. said the University of Houston violated the free speech rights of the Pro-Life Cougars (PLC) when they were denied access to a campus area designated for public forum.
Werlein ruled that the university policy banning speech whenever the school deemed it "potentially disruptive" was unconstitutional. PLC had previously set up the exhibit, which featured photographs of aborted fetuses, on campus with no complaints or disruptive behavior.

But when the group asked permission last October to set up the display again, members were denied by officials who were unhappy with the exhibit. Officials said the PLC would have to set up in an alternate site, but the group turned down the offer and sued the university.

In his ruling last week, Werlein said that the college could not discriminate against pro-life expression in specific areas of campus. "The decision was a victory for the First Amendment," Benjamin W. Bull, chief counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund Law Center, which represented the PLC. "Universities cannot bar pro-life images that some students and faculty find disturbing."