Australian Pro-Life Student Group Silenced -- Part Two of Two
By Liz Townsend

Pro-life students at the University of Queensland (UQ) cannot distribute brochures showing an eight-month-old unborn baby, according to the student union president. The literature, described by the Catholic student group the Newman Society as "pro-woman" and "pro-pregnancy," violates the student body's official pro-abortion stance, The Australian reported.

The literature included information on alternatives to abortion, intended to help fellow students dealing with a crisis pregnancy. "University can be a time when young women might be faced with the difficult challenge of an unplanned pregnancy," Newman Society secretary Elise Nally said in a news release. "Those women not only deserve compassion, but also support."

The student union held a disciplinary hearing after the Newman Society distributed the brochures. The union banned the group from displaying the literature, imposed a 12 months' probation, and "ordered that all future material be vetted by three officials, including Union President Joshua Young, who is associated with the Liberal Party," according to The Australian.

"I'd like to know what laws we've broken," Nally, who is also treasurer of the national Australian Catholic Students Association (ACSA), told the newspaper. "The union is acting like a dictator."

"I know the Newman Society thinks the union is being heavy handed," Union President Young told The Australian, "but the student union voted in 1993 for free, safe, abortion on demand so all women have a genuine choice when faced with unwanted pregnancy."

The Australian asked Young if the student vote "precluded other viewpoints being put forward in debate on campus." "It does," Young responded.

However, The Australian reported that only a fraction of the university's 30,000-member student body voted for the referendum, with 1,900 in favor, 1,400 opposed, and 200 abstaining.

The Newman Society is supported by the ACSA, which represents students across the country. The ACSA condemned the UQ Union's actions. "If the truth becomes something we can simply vote for, it becomes a weapon that can be used against others," ACSA National President Camillus O'Kane said in a news release. "This is why freedom of speech is one of the guiding principles of our society."

The student union's actions may have serious implications for other student groups on the UQ campus and on all students' rights, the ACSA warned.

"It is a shame that this incident has occurred at one of Australia's leading universities, a place of learning where we should be able to express our views freely," O'Kane added.

Part One