A great victory for advocates of genuine individual rights was won on April 18, 2007, as the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act. But even more grounds for hope exist, since this is not merely a one-time success. It is a manifestation of a gradual but definite shift of momentum to the pro-life movement over the recent years. Other longer-term trends point in the same direction as well, and on the day of the Supreme Court’s decision, I had the pleasure of learning about these developments from Dr. Mike Adams.

Dr. Adams—a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina, conservative columnist, and renowned activist for the pro-life cause—delivered an eloquent, witty, and informative speech at Hillsdale College on April 18, 2007. He highlighted three trends that, over the recent years, have made it easier for pro-life groups and advocates of genuine free speech on college campuses to obtain quality information, express their ideas effectively, and challenge violations of the rights of unborn humans and conservative thinkers in colleges nationwide.

The first trend Dr. Adams discussed is the burgeoning alternative media. Over the past ten years, an explosive growth has occurred in conservative and pro-life information sources: including websites, blogs, regular online publications, and television news channels such as FOX News and MSNBC that offer more equitable coverage on the abortion issue than do the traditional “big three networks.” The new media not only helps inform pro-lifers and co-ordinates their activities, but also exposes the public to frequent instances of fanaticism, illegality, and criminality in the “pro-choice” movement. For instance, the alternative media helped fire Professor Sally Jacobsen at the University of Kentucky, who incited her students to destroy a pro-life monument on her campus and personally participated in its egregious dismantlement.

The abortionists’ stranglehold on college campuses is being more extensively challenged not only in the court of public opinion, but also in courts of law. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) is a group that includes both conservatives and liberals who are concerned about the blatant suppression of “politically incorrect” speech on campuses nationwide. Since 2001, FIRE has successfully defended numerous victims of such censorship, has influenced the repeal of numerous campus speech codes, and has exposed the general public to the blatantly un-American persecution of “thought crimes” in many colleges. During the past year and a half, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), of which Dr. Adams is a prominent representative, has been contesting colleges’ violations of students’ First Amendment rights with the help of over 1,000 voluntary attorneys throughout the country. The ADF has been crucial in many college administrations’ recent decisions to mandate their health centers to cooperate with pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centers instead of solely working with organizations that are in favor of abortion.

The third recent hopeful development has occurred on private campuses nationwide, as concerned advocates of genuine free speech contacted college alumni and donors and informed them of oppressive campus speech codes. In May of 2005, Dartmouth College repealed its restrictions on conservative and pro-life free speech due to the outrage of its most prominent donors—who were informed of the speech codes by concerned friends of liberty and their legal representatives. Dr. Adams noted that speech codes can cost colleges many millions of dollars—and this disincentive from censorship is manifesting itself with increasing frequency.

The combination of a growing alternative media, an emerging legal support network for pro-lifers and advocates of First Amendment rights, and extensive efforts to inform donors to colleges of the kinds of travesties their money might be going to support have begun to turn the tide in favor of the right to life and the right to free speech. We can only hope that these developments continue and secure a long-term, decisive victory for those who believe that all human beings are entitled to the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

G. Stolyarov II is a science fiction novelist, independent philosophical essayist, poet, amateur mathematician, composer, contributor to Enter Stage Right, Le Quebecois Libre,  Rebirth of Reason, and the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Senior Writer for The Liberal Institute, weekly columnist for GrasstopsUSA.com, and Editor-in-Chief of The Rational Argumentator, a magazine championing the principles of reason, rights, and progress. Mr. Stolyarov also publishes his articles on Helium.com and Associated Content to assist the spread of rational ideas. His newest science fiction novel is Eden against the Colossus. His latest non-fiction treatise is A Rational Cosmology. Mr. Stolyarov can be contacted at gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com.

This TRA feature has been edited in accordance with TRA’s Statement of Policy.