OPINION:
When I was a student, back-to-school shopping meant new pencils and a few notebooks, but today’s students need more than a laptop and a loan.
Preparing to return to campus requires a lot more of conservative and pro-life students, who increasingly face a hostile learning environment if they don’t toe the ideological line. Hazing isn’t confined to Greek life anymore.
Opposition seems to be on the syllabus. Consider a recent lawsuit filed in Idaho in which professors argued that they have a right to push abortion access in class. Should pro-life students there or in other parts of the country disagree, it’s possible that they will receive a bad grade and perhaps even a violent reaction. And that’s not rhetorical.
The University of Chicago’s Project on Security and Threats just released a poll finding that support for literal violence to force federal protections for abortion is on the rise.
Responding to the statement “The use of force is justified to restore the federal right to abortion,” 12% of Americans overall said yes in June, up from 8% in January, but among Democrats, 16% now agreed. Republicans concurred at 6%, the same over the six months, while independents rose from 11% to 14%. Scary math.
Fear and silence can be common responses. College students report that they censor themselves for fear of retribution from classmates or instructors.
A 2022 Knight Foundation/Ipsos Survey showed that 65% of students said their campus climate prevented them from sharing views that may be considered controversial, and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that schools are only getting more intolerant after completing one of the largest surveys of campus free expression.
With 1,400 Students for Life groups at schools across the country, we’ve seen our fair share of the bad, the worse, and the ugly. Nearly 10% of our student groups reported harassment and free speech violations in the last school year, with reported attacks on free speech tripling.
My own speaking tour was more explosive than educational, thanks to violent protesters.
Given today’s hostile environment, Students for Life of America, or SFLA, put together a Pro-Life School Supplies Guide to support the courageous and the bold who want to keep their free speech rights.
One thing our students don’t need is a lawyer on retainer, as SFLA works with attorneys nationwide when such help is needed. But from our experience last year, here are a few more shopping suggestions:
Body armor
Who knows when a professor will chase you with a machete? Students at Hunter College in New York City, as well as two New York Post reporters, learned the hard way that some people who are OK with violence in the womb can be OK with it outside the womb, too. Remember: It starts with sopher clamps and forceps, and it can end with swords.
Body armor is also an excellent option for confronting antifa members who prefer hand-to-hand combat, like the ones who showed up and injured several at my speaking tour stop at Virginia Commonwealth University, or to protect against gun threats, like the one at a Nebraska Students for Life Action event.
Hazmat suit
As a pro-life student, you’re never fully dressed without a smile and a suit that protects against piddle. Beyond throwing their verbal weight around, there is also the danger that pro-abortion students will hurl cups of human urine, as the SFLA group at the College of William & Mary unfortunately found out. Get guarded from human waste before it gets gross.
A scary-looking dog
Stalkers are a new reality for some of our pro-life students, perhaps even calling for a fierce furry friend. Pro-life female students from across the country reported both online and in-person stalking by pro-abortion classmates in the 2022-2023 school year. In one case, a male abortion supporter lied about being a friend to be let into a dorm room and lie in wait.
A killer-looking canine could cure that.
Headlamp and disinfectant
When pro-life students aren’t serving pregnant and parenting women or working to enact protections for the preborn in law, there’s a good chance they’re dumpster diving … for their own property.
Destruction and theft of property was the most commonly reported issue last year as many SFLA groups found their displays stuffed into trash bins around campus (or chewed up and splashed with fake blood as at Hunter College). Save yourself some searching time with a headlamp and load up on your Lysol.
Getting ready to go back to school isn’t as simple when you’re pro-life. Student activism will undoubtedly expose them to vitriol, so it’s good there’s one thing our students won’t need to shop for: bravery.
The pro-life generation has that in spades.
• Kristan Hawkins is president of Students for Life of America & Students for Life Action with more than 1,400 groups on educational campuses in all 50 states. Follow her @KristanHawkins or subscribe to her podcast, “Explicitly Pro-Life.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.