It doesn’t appear that Wisconsin’s Waukesha West High School will yield to a heckler’s veto — one parent who expressed her displeasure at a pro-life display in the school’s hallway.
“I was surprised — and then I was unhappy,” parent Jill Vendette said about the display which reads “Abortion stops 3,000 beating hearts every day.”
“Every group has a right to voice their opinion. I just don`t feel this topic should be spoken about in a school. It`s just not the right venue,” she said.
Vendette had learned of the poster after her son had taken a picture of it.
The school stands firm in its decision to allow the exhibit, even though it’s been taken down temporarily because of a technicality: The “Students for Life” group which put it up currently doesn’t have a faculty adviser.
However, Principal David LaBorde says that situation has been rectified, and the poster will return shortly.
“While we recognize there may be people who disagree with that particular philosophical approach to things, it meets all the standards for First Amendment rights here in our school. We will support that and stand behind that,” LaBorde said.
Vendette said her motives aren’t political. She said she strongly believes abortion is an issue that should be discussed at home.
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“I also would be very angry if a poster went up supporting abortion. I would have the exact same feeling,” Vendette said.
There is not currently a pro-choice group at Waukesha West High School simply because students haven’t created one.
Principal LaBorde said if there were such a group, the group would be welcome to create their own displays.
Courts have consistently ruled that lower education officials have a lot of leeway in regulating student speech.
But if there is little-to-no threat to the school environment, students, as the famous Tinker decision said, don’t “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”
h/t to EAGNews.org
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