With the just-released Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision from the Supreme Court, many college and university students are shocked that what was perceived as an absolute right has changed. Many are now finding themselves enrolled in schools in states where their access to reproductive healthcare options have radically shifted. While there are misunderstandings about the Court’s decision—a ruling which gives states the power to decide reproductive health questions at the local level—many schools and their respective leadership have issued explicit and political statements about the Dobbs decision. While it is certainly laudable for schools to want to support their students in uncertain times and it is absolutely the case that many students feel betrayed and hurt, institutions of higher education must be either neutral or supportive of real viewpoint diversity on these political matters.
Consider, for instance, a public statement made by the president of Smith College on the Dobbs decision. While the Smith president advocates that students and community members inform their “representatives at both the state and federal levels concerning your views, whatever they are, on this Supreme Court decision,” her letter is one-sided against the Court’s decision and takes the clear political position that, “for those of us who fought for a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have a child, this decision is hard to believe and hard to bear.” At my own institution, Sarah Lawrence College, the school president wrote that, “It is stunningly difficult to comprehend the deliberate unraveling of certain long-established freedoms presently taking place in America.” This view is not shared by all Americans at all; many celebrated the preservation of life with the Dobbs decision.
My concern here is not the legitimacy of the generally left-of-center political views that are being held by college leadership and administrators. Rather, what is deeply problematic is that this is another case among many—from abortion here to a host of other socio-political topics ranging from police power to questions of identity, equity, and inclusion—where school administrators are taking powerful and very public ideological positions which set the tone of discourse on their respective campuses and can be viewed as official positions of their respective institutions. This sort of behavior is dangerous in a collegiate setting, for it silences viewpoint diversity and further marginalizes students who may disagree and hold divergent views. When top administrators make such statements, they may think that they are acting in the best interests of their students. However, such behavior is regressive for it stifles healthy dissent, debate, and discourse over issues such as abortion and impedes the mission of higher education, which includes being able to disagree and work through differences even when there is discomfort.
On the question of abortion and students’ views, College Pulse has surveyed thousands of students and the question of pregnancy termination, what is life and when does it begin, is not a settled issue whatsoever on campus. While it is generally a mistake to ask students if they are simply pro-life or pro-choice as the question of abortion is about degrees and situations, the results are nonetheless instructive: About one in five students (18 percent) is pro-life while a little under two-thirds (62 percent) is pro-choice with another fifth of students either not sure or state that they cannot answer the question and it depends on the situation. These numbers show that there is anything but monolithic support for the pro-choice position, and potent political statements made by college presidents can marginalize these other views and student debate even further.
A better question to ask about abortion is whether or not abortion should be legal in all cases, legal in most cases, illegal in most cases, or illegal in all cases: what becomes clear, as before, is that college students are split here as well. Another recent College Pulse survey fielded in 2019 demonstrates that a little over a third (35 percent) of students believe that abortion should be legal in all cases and just five percent believe that it should be illegal in all cases. Most students take a more moderate view, with 43 percent stating that abortion should be legal in most cases and 17 percent illegal in most cases. This reveals that almost one in five students would prefer limits on abortion but understand that there are exceptions. This is a non-trivial number and many may be excited and relieved by the recent Dobbs opinion despite the very public, alternative position taken by their school administrators.
The question of life and abortion is not an easy issue for many, and the Dobbs decision will most likely play a significant role in the next series of elections at all levels. Some Americans cheered the Supreme Court while others seethed and students around the nation—like most Americans—are anything but homogenous on the question of abortion. As such, college and university leaders should be less overtly political in response to Dobbs. While it is admirable to support those students who feel betrayed by the Court, there is diversity of opinion among students on the decision itself and such strong political statements made by school presidents have the real potential to minimize viewpoint diversity and marginalize their students, thus undermining their very missions. Schools and their leadership should be more careful and balanced in their public, political responses.
Originally published by the American Enterprise Institute. Republished with permission.
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