We are urgently seeking 500 new Life Defenders (monthly supporters) before the end of October to help save babies from abortion 365 days a year. Your first gift as a Life Defender today will be DOUBLED. Click here to make your monthly commitment.
Utah State University campus police allegedly quash pro-life chalk message
Students for Life of America is taking up the cause of a pro-life Utah State University student who alleges that campus police wrongly forced her to remove a pro-life sidewalk chalk display.
Melissa says she and friends participated in SFLA’s National Pro-Life Chalk Day by drawing 897 hearts accompanied by the messages “say no to abortion,” #defundpp, and pro-life quotes from Mother Theresa and Dr. Seuss. “I frequently see messages chalked across campus,” she writes, “Messages announcing activities, random pictures, etc…( Last year there was even a club handing out chalk during the day and people were drawing all over the sidewalks).” They further inferred it was permissible because campus security watched for nearly twenty minutes without comment.
But upon leaving, a campus police officer approached them, inquired whether they had permission, and said they had committed vandalism, claiming no chalking was allowed. Melissa says she and her friends promptly purchased brooms to clean off the sidewalk. “When we got back there were FOUR cop cars around our drawings, guarding it as if we they were guarding a crime scene. We told them we hadn’t forgotten about it and got to work.” After forty minutes of sweeping, they had to wait for a worker to bring a water tank to spray the rest off.
Dear Reader,
Every day in America, more than 2,800 preborn babies lose their lives to abortion.
That number should break our hearts and move us to action.
Ending this tragedy requires daily commitment from people like you who refuse to stay silent.
Millions read Live Action News each month — imagine the impact if each of us took a stand for life 365 days a year.
Right now, we’re urgently seeking 500 new Life Defenders (monthly donors) to join us before the end of October. And thanks to a generous $250,000 matching grant, your first monthly gift will be DOUBLED to help save lives and build a culture that protects the preborn.
Will you become one of the 500 today? Click here now to become a Live Action Life Defender and have your first gift doubled.
Together, we can end abortion and create a future where every child is cherished and every mother is supported.
“I asked the officer who first approached us if it was the message that got us in trouble or the fact that it was chalk,” Melissa continues. “He told me that no chalk is allowed without permission, but then continued to tell me how offended pro-abortion people would get if it was on campus, and how it would get posted online and become a big deal.”
The students did not receive formal punishment, but may have to pay for the cost of the facilities worker with the water tank. “The feeling my friends and I received from the officers was that our message was offensive and that is why we had to clean it up,” Melissa says. “I was under the impression that we were all entitled to our own opinions and freedom of speech and expression!”
According to SFLA president Kristan Hawkins, her organization is currently consulting with their attorneys and the students to decide a course of action.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Newsbreak·By Calvin Freiburger
