SPUC is asking pro-life supporters in Scotland to email their MSP to help end the censorship and discrimination faced by pro-life students on university campuses.

SPUC together with the Alliance of Pro-life Students (APS) has produced a new report detailing the censorship of pro-life university students across Scotland. The report has revealed how pro-life students at some universities in Scotland have faced unfair treatment because of their pro-life viewpoint.

SPUC is now asking supporters across Scotland to get in touch with their MSP to raise awareness of this issue.

Stamping out censorship in the nation’s universities

In a joint letter to MSPs, following the publication of the report, SPUC and APS have called Scotland’s elected representatives to account and demanded action to stamp out censorship in the nation’s universities.

The letter states: “It is vital the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament address the censorship epidemic our universities are facing.

“We would therefore call on the Scottish Parliament to investigate and report on censorship within Scottish universities.”

SPUC’s Michael Robinson added: “Universities should be bastions of free speech, where differing opinions are explored and challenged. To silence any student, particularly on the basis of a deeply held philosophical belief is to act against the Equalities Act.

“Unfortunately, students who are pro-life are not being treated in the same way as many other students, and we are finally drawing attention to that fact. The universities must work harder and hold student unions to account for not protecting freedom of speech.”

The pro-life student experience

The report produced by SPUC and APS is Scotland’s first comprehensive analysis of campus free speech.

The report details the struggles and discrimination many pro-life student groups have encountered in order to be recognised by their university and students’ union - including at the University of Glasgow and the University of Aberdeen, where students had to pursue legal action before being affiliated as a society.

Josep Marti Bouis is one of the students from Edinburgh University attempting to re-establish the pro-life society. He said of his experience:

“It is a real shame that the Edinburgh University Students’ Union, which claims to represent all students, has not let us affiliate with them. We represent a philosophical and scientific view, held by millions of people in the world, that tries to protect the weakest members of society: the unborn, the ill, and the elderly. It is very important that young people are exposed to a range of different views, and the shutting down of anyone who disagrees with the ‘established position’ does a disservice to the education of our students.

“We will continue to fight for the rights of the unborn, the real health of women, and the dignity of all human lives. Our job would be made easier if the students’ association respected the right to free speech of its members, but we will not let any inconvenience deter us from our conviction: that every life is important, from conception to natural death.”