By Steve Weatherbe

Opponents of Youth Protecting Youth made their feelings clear at a UVic debate late last year. Photo: Steve Weatherbe

A UNIVERSITY pro-life club has just announced an out-of-court settlement in its protracted dispute with the school's student society.

Last month, Youth Protecting Youth (YPY) had claimed what it considered a partial victory in its fight for the right to advocate its cause on the campus of the University of Victoria (UVic).

YPY had attracted censure by putting up posters, bringing in speakers who talked about the health risks of abortion, and showing a graphic video of an abortion in progress.

Its pro-choice critics claimed YPY advocated the passage of laws against abortion, which YPY denied, and accused the club of racism because other pro-life organizations have compared abortion to genocide.

However, responding to a lawsuit launched by YPY and the BC Civil Liberties Association, the board of directors of the UVic Students' Society voted in June to reinstate the club with full funding.

The newly-elected board even voted to pay the $719 that previous boards had denied the club over the past two years, on the pretext that its pro-life messaging constituted harassment and intimidation of pregnant co-eds.

Finally, the board removed several additions to the harassment policy passed by the previous board, specifying pro-life advocacy as a form of harassment.

"Our reaction is mixed," said YPY spokesman Eric Kyfiuk of the board's moves. "We're pleased that the student society seems willing to consider what we've requested. But concern remains that they have failed to respond on all the key points in our lawsuit."

The preamble to the motion reinstating and re-funding YPY made it clear that the board was motivated by a desire "to avoid the expense and avoid litigation whenever prudent"; but at least some members of the new board opposed the initial sanctions on principle.

Kelsey Hannan, the student society's new treasurer and one of a minority of directors on the previous board opposed to the sanctions against YPY, said he was "personally pro-choice," but also saw free speech as a fundamental principle that made Canada "the peaceful country that it is."

Continue article >>

The abortion issue, he said, is an important one, and the divisions on it are profound within Canada.

"There is a deep debate in this country on this issue. My moral philosophy class spent a week on it," he said, to rebut the argument heard from YPY's opponents that the issue had been resolved forever.

Moreover, said Hannan, free speech was at stake. "I don't think the people who argued against YPY are aware of the fundamental importance of the right to free speech in the history of their own causes in this country."

Right after the student society's June actions, Kyfiuk said YPY still wanted the board to declare its previous actions against YPY unlawful and to promise to leave the club alone as long as it continued with postering and hosting speakers.

"As it stands, there's nothing to stop the society should it want to discriminate against pro-lifers in the future," he told CC.com. He added that YPY was still pondering whether or not to proceed with the suit.

However, in a July 19 press release, YPY proclaimed that its fight with UVic had ended.

"After two and a half months of consultation, the legal conflict between the University of Victoria's pro-life club, Youth Protecting Youth (YPY), and the University of Victoria Students' Society (UVSS) has come to a conclusion," YPY stated, adding:

"The legal conflict was the result of two years of discrimination and censorship, during which YPY was repeatedly denied funding that other clubs received. The situation escalated in the spring of 2010, when the UVSS refused to recognize YPY as a club, and made policy modifications that specifically targeted pro-life advocacy.

"YPY responded by filing a petition in the BC Supreme Court. The case has now been settled out of court."

UVSS, it added, "has recognized YPY as a club, granted it funding for the summer semester, repaid all funds wrongly withheld since fall 2008, and eliminated policy additions that had targeted pro-life advocacy . . . YPY welcomes these developments that recognize the right to free speech at UVic."

Club president Anastasia Pearse stated: "This is a great victory for YPY. We interpret the UVSS' concessions as an admission of wrongdoing, and we're happy with the new direction it's taking."

YPY added: "The UVSS has also agreed to an unusual condition that allows YPY to hold the petition in abeyance indefinitely, making the process required to reinitiate legal proceedings quicker and easier, should it become necessary - a circumstance that YPY would view as regrettable."

Further, YPY "is pleased that the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which has generously acted in support of the club's free speech, has been granted intervener status in the lawsuit, and will be intervening should the lawsuit need to be revived under the abeyance agreement."

July 21/2010