Andy Drozdziak
Pro-life students are being urged to ‘be brave’ following the recent incidents of intimidation and abuse at the new pro-life society event in Manchester.
Hundreds of pro-choice supporters shouted intimidating language and spat on members of the Manchester Pro Life Society after its first meeting on 29th February. Chants of “stay in there and die”, “you should be aborted” and vulgarities were heard during the protest, whilst members were threatened with rape and violence and eggs were thrown at the window.
The incident underlines a recent trend. Since 2017, student representative bodies at universities in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Nottingham and Strathclyde have tried to prevent student pro-life groups from being affiliated with their universities.
In each of these cases, the students’ unions had to reverse their decision after the groups threatened legal proceedings against them. Students at Birmingham University also had significant difficulty becoming affiliated with the university but eventually won out against significant opposition.
Madeline Page, the Director of the Alliance of Pro-Life Students, is now encouraging students to be bold in sharing the pro-life message.
She told the Universe: “Be courageous. Whilst what has happened is absolutely horrendous, it is unusual-this is not the norm. As Catholics, as pro-lifers, we are on the side of truth and people don’t necessarily like to hear that. I would like to share the truth with people, and sometimes the truth is hard to hear.”
Right To Life UK showed that, in a 2020 survey undertaken by Survation for legal advocacy group ADF International, 27% of university students have ‘hidden’ their opinions which they believe may be at odds with those at their university.
In the same survey, 44% of students believe that their lecturers would treat them differently if they made their views known, and 38% believe that their future careers might be adversely affected if they openly expressed their true opinions.
Madeline Page encouraged students to always be charitable and not stay quiet. “Always be charitable, but say something, do something,” she said.
“The real danger is self-censorship. Because of how toxic the culture can become, especially around distressing issues like abortion, students don’t need to be censored by someone else because they censor themselves because of the potential reaction and I think that is dangerous. We should be bold and share the truth.”
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, urged students to continue to share the pro-life message, adding that their words should not be prevented by violence and threats.
“Student pro-life groups are often the first opportunity people have to hear the pro-life view and this should not be denied by the chilling effect brought on by threats of violence”, she said.
“Parliament passed the Higher Education (Free Speech) Act in 2023 to alleviate censorship on campus and restore the freedom to express and exchange ideas openly in universities.”
Pictures: Madeline Page, Alliance of Pro-Life Students
Right To Life UK