{"id":64014,"date":"2015-05-22T00:44:02","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T04:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=64014"},"modified":"2015-05-22T15:07:16","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T19:07:16","slug":"las-vegas-high-school-latest-accused-discriminating-pro-life-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/las-vegas-high-school-latest-accused-discriminating-pro-life-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas high school latest to be accused of discriminating against pro-life student"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, may be ranked as one of America’s Best High Schools<\/a>, but if pro-life rankings came into play, that rating would plummet.<\/p>\n

A sophomore at West Career and Technical Academy is the latest student to be denied the right to start a pro-life club because it’s too “controversial” and exclusive.<\/p>\n

Saying pro-abortion students may feel left out and “there were others ‘more qualified’ to speak on the issue than a high school sophomore,” the school has denied Angelique Clark her application to form the club. But Clark has taken her case from the halls of the high school to the Thomas More Society, which alleges that Clark’s First Amendment rights are being denied.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas More Society issued a demand letter Thursday<\/a> to Amy Dockter-Rozar, principal of West Career and Technical Academy, and the Clark County School District on behalf of Clark and Students for Life of America.<\/p>\n

Thomas More Society says, “The letter charges that school administrators have unconstitutionally discriminated against Angelique by denying her the right to form a Students for Life club at West Career and Technical Academy.”<\/p>\n

It also notes that “the school\u2019s refusal to allow the Students for Life club constitutes a violation of the students\u2019 rights under both the federal Equal Access Act and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. All students who wish to form non-curricular clubs must be treated equally, even if the clubs they wish to form are religious or political.”<\/p>\n

Jocelyn Floyd, associate counsel at the Thomas More Society, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cDenying students their right to form a pro-life club on the grounds that it\u2019s \u2018too controversial\u2019 and \u2018not inclusive\u2019 is an affront to the First Amendment. <\/strong>High school administrators should encourage their students to engage in dialogue on important societal issues, not censor the message simply because there are differing viewpoints.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Clark’s quest to form a pro-life club began last December when she initially applied. She was met with silence. She says she finally heard in February from her advisor, “that Vice Principal Mr. Allan Yee had denied the club.” After meeting with Yee, Clark “was given a variety of reasons why the club could not be approved, including that abortion was ‘controversial,’ that a pro-life club would make pro-choice people feel left out, and that there were others more qualified'” to speak on the issue than a high school sophomore.<\/p>\n

Of course, it takes no special qualifications to speak out on pro-life issues. Anyone who can understand the value of that gift, but the school didn’t see it that way. Clark wasn’t trying to sway anyone, she said; she simply wants to use her freedom of speech in her school as any other student can.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not asking the administration to agree with my pro-life position,” Clark said. “I am simply asking the school to give pro-life students at West Career and Technical Academy the opportunity to make our voices heard. We want to discuss our view on an important topic\u2014why choosing life is important. This may be a controversial issue, but that doesn\u2019t mean we should lose our right to free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America added:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo high school administrator has the right to deny pro-life students their free speech rights. Brave students like Angelique set amazing examples for their peers both in their own communities and on a national level by standing up not only for the preborn and their mothers facing unplanned pregnancies, but for their own First Amendment rights as well. We are so proud of Angelique, who reached out to Students for Life of America for assistance, and for our attorneys at the Thomas More Society for their help to make Angelique\u2019s Students for Life group an official, school-based club, with the same rights as her peers.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sadly, this is the latest in a string of high schools denying students their First Amendment and Equal Access rights. Just last week, students at two Fargo high schools had pro-life clubs approved<\/a> after demands from Thomas More Society and a stream of rhetoric from the district. And last month, an Iowa high school was also under fire <\/a>for denying a pro-life club.<\/p>\n

Although this trend is troubling, Thomas More Society\u00a0and\u00a0Students for Life of America continue to stand with pro-life teenagers across the nation who have the courage to speak out for the preborn, as well as to fight for their own rights to speech in the public arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, may be ranked as one of America’s Best High Schools, but if pro-life rankings came into play, that rating would plummet. A sophomore at West Career and Technical Academy is the latest student to be denied the right to start a pro-life club because it’s too […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":827,"featured_media":64015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[2834,34,3584,2677,3729],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas high school latest to be accused of discriminating against pro-life student - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/las-vegas-high-school-latest-accused-discriminating-pro-life-student\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Las Vegas high school latest to be accused of discriminating against pro-life student - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"West Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, may be ranked as one of America’s Best High Schools, but if pro-life rankings came into play, that rating would plummet. 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