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By Steve Weatherbe
PRO-LIFE students at the University of Victoria came
prepared for battle – or, at least, a spirited debate. Instead, they
got funding – from the school’s fiercely pro-choice
student society – through a mere show of hands.
“I’m pleased and delighted,” said
Anastasia Pearse, president of the Youth Protecting Youth (YPY) Club
and third year recreation and health student. “It was good to do all
that planning. And it was especially good to reach out to all the other
clubs.”
YPY had reason to prepare. The UVic student
society is known to be hostile to pro-life views. In 1999, it kicked YPY
out of the society entirely, only to have the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal
force it to reverse its decision.
 | | UVic student Anastasia Pearse, president of the on-campus Youth Protecting Youth club. |
In 2005, YPY got enough signatures on a petition to
force the society to stage an extraordinary general meeting of the student
body. The purpose was to vote on YPY’s motion to drop the pro-choice
position; but that position was upheld.
Last year, the campus pro-choice club counter-attacked.
It introduced a surprise motion at a meeting of the Clubs Council to
withdraw YPY’s funding – on the grounds that its pro-life
position was contrary to the student society’s policy.
When it turned out that the only reason a club could be
defunded was if its policies or practices constituted harassment of any
identifiable group, the pro-choice club changed its argument – and
the motion passed.
Citing a comment by a women’s studies professor
that the UVic campus was rife with “ambient violence,” the
pro-choice spokesperson claimed that YPY posters showing women and children
and saying such things as “support life” added to the
atmosphere of “ambient violence.”
The student society’s board of directors
evidently needed no persuading. When YPY appealed, councillors likened the
pro-life position, ironically enough, to genocide. The defunding was
approved.
But club funding is reapproved every semester; so YPY
knew it would get another chance this spring. The members thought they were
getting another fight when, at the first meeting of the Clubs Council, the
chair postponed approval of YPY until the next meeting, when more clubs
would be present for the discussion.
YPY’s members and supporters hit the phones and
email programs, contacting all the religious and political groups on
campus. Pearse and a YPY core group boned up on the arguments their
opponents had used in the past, and worked out counter arguments. Some
members were delegated with specific rebuttals.
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Copies were made of a recent statement from Alan
Borovoy of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, deploring the banning
of pro-life activities by several student unions across Canada.
At the next meeting of the Clubs Council, YPY came in
force, supported by several members of the Catholic Student Society and
delegates from the Navigators, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Campus
for Christ and the Chinese Christian Students.
However, when the opportunity came to dispute funding
for YPY, no leader emerged. Only a few unenthusiastic hands were raised
against the pro-lifers. The motion to fund was carried 13 to five.
Del Myers of the Catholic Student Society said he
“expected more of an organized effort.” He speculated that
perhaps the pro-choice side was cowed by the reaction against last
year’s defunding. “There’s been a lot of support for free
speech. And YPY never did anything offensive.”
Pearse said YPY spends its funds on movie nights,
speakers and posters. She came to the Clubs Council meeting prepared to
defend the pro-life model of womanhood against the pro-choice belief that
to be pro-life is to be anti-woman and anti-choice.
“We are presenting our beliefs. They may be
offensive to some people. But they still get to choose what to do. They are
not really being pro-choice when they want to silence the choice that we
advocate.”
Pearse said her group has learned from the experience.
“You can’t just sit back. You need to be proactive, not
reactive.”
March 2009
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I was a student who was on campus at the time this article and I was a part of one of the Christian clubs mentioned in this article.
Many of these groups did not send delegates to this meeting at all. Nor was there a united front among the different groups to support YPY. For many of the Christian clubs on campus, the YPY issue was pretty low on the radar. This article is misleading.