A student union has reversed itself and decided to grant affiliation to a pro-life student society after the initial decision to deny the group affiliation was challenged. The University of Nottingham Students’ Union had sought to argue that the values of the pro-life group “did not align” with their own and rejected the group’s application for affiliation on that basis. However, with the help of ADF International, “Nottingham Students for Life” was able to challenge the decision, arguing that the Union had a legal commitment to represent all students whether or not they agreed with their beliefs. Consequently, the Students’ Union has now reversed its original decision and granted the pro-life group affiliation.
Affiliation for student groups with the Students’ Union at a university is important for those groups as it permits them to use university premises for their events and often entitles them to a certain amount of funding.
Clare McCarthy from Right To Life UK said:
“This is great news for the pro-life students at Nottingham and the pro-life movement in Britain more generally. The difficulty pro-life groups face in gaining official status in universities has become the norm and Student’s Unions seem very happy to violate their own policies on ‘inclusion’ and ‘equality’ to discriminate against those who take a different view on abortion to them.”
“Universities were once considered the forum in which ideas and opinions were discussed and argued however, more and more we are seeing attempts to censor the pro-life argument from being discussed on campus. This behaviour sets a dangerous precedent for freedom of speech and expression more generally.”
