Hopeful Developments for the
Right to Life and the Right to Free Speech
GrassTopsUSA Exclusive Commentary
By Gennady Stolyarov II
04-24-07
A great
victory for advocates of genuine individual rights was won on April
18, 2007, as the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the
Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. But even more grounds for hope
exist, since this is not merely a one-time success. It is a
manifestation of a gradual but definite shift of momentum to the
pro-life movement over the recent years. Other longer-term trends
point in the same direction as well, and on the day of the Supreme
Court’s decision, I had the pleasure of learning about these
developments from Dr. Mike Adams.
Dr. Adams—a
criminology professor at the University of North Carolina,
conservative columnist, and renowned activist for the pro-life
cause—delivered an eloquent, witty, and informative speech at
Hillsdale College on April 18, 2007. He highlighted three trends
that, over the recent years, have made it easier for pro-life groups
and advocates of genuine free speech on college campuses to obtain
quality information, express their ideas effectively, and challenge
violations of the rights of unborn humans and conservative thinkers
in colleges nationwide.
The first
trend Dr. Adams discussed is the burgeoning alternative media. Over
the past ten years, an explosive growth has occurred in conservative
and pro-life information sources: including websites, blogs, regular
online publications, and television news channels such as FOX News
and MSNBC that offer more equitable coverage on the abortion issue
than do the traditional “big three networks.” The new media not only
helps inform pro-lifers and co-ordinates their activities, but also
exposes the public to frequent instances of fanaticism, illegality,
and criminality in the “pro-choice” movement. For instance, the
alternative media helped fire Professor Sally Jacobsen at the
University of Kentucky, who incited her students to destroy a
pro-life monument on her campus and personally participated in its
egregious dismantlement.
The
abortionists’ stranglehold on college campuses is being more
extensively challenged not only in the court of public opinion, but
also in courts of law. The Foundation for Individual Rights in
Education (FIRE) is a group that includes both conservatives and
liberals who are concerned about the blatant suppression of
“politically incorrect” speech on campuses nationwide. Since 2001,
FIRE has successfully defended numerous victims of such censorship,
has influenced the repeal of numerous campus speech codes, and has
exposed the general public to the blatantly un-American persecution
of “thought crimes” in many colleges. During the past year and a
half, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), of which Dr. Adams is a
prominent representative, has been contesting colleges’ violations
of students’ First Amendment rights with the help of over 1,000
voluntary attorneys throughout the country. The ADF has been
crucial in many college administrations’ recent decisions to mandate
their health centers to cooperate with pro-life groups and crisis
pregnancy centers instead of solely working with organizations that
are in favor of abortion.
The third
recent hopeful development has occurred on private campuses
nationwide, as concerned advocates of genuine free speech contacted
college alumni and donors and informed them of oppressive campus
speech codes. In May of 2005, Dartmouth College repealed its
restrictions on conservative and pro-life free speech due to the
outrage of its most prominent donors—who were informed of the speech
codes by concerned friends of liberty and their legal
representatives. Dr. Adams noted that speech codes can cost colleges
many millions of dollars—and this disincentive from censorship is
manifesting itself with increasing frequency.
The
combination of a growing alternative media, an emerging legal
support network for pro-lifers and advocates of First Amendment
rights, and extensive efforts to inform donors to colleges of the
kinds of travesties their money might be going to support have begun
to turn the tide in favor of the right to life and the right to free
speech. We can only hope that these developments continue and secure
a long-term, decisive victory for those who believe that all
human beings are entitled to the inalienable rights of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Gennady Stolyarov II is
Editor-in-Chief of
The Rational Argumentator, a magazine championing the principles
or Reason, Rights, and Progress. His works have been published by
Le Quebecois Libre,
Enter Stage Right Magazine, the
Ludwig von Mises Institute,
Rebirth of Reason, and other organizations. Mr. Stolyarov can be
contacted at
gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com.
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GrasstopsUSA.com 2007
