On Sept. 23, a memo was sent out to all University of Idaho employees telling them that they cannot provide any “counseling in favor of abortion” or “promote services for abortions or for the prevention of contraception” among a whole host of other rules. Since this memo was sent out, UI has had national attention brought onto them.
While abortion is a very pressing issue and Idaho’s laws on it need to be discussed, UI sending out this memo and its repercussions are an issue of censorship and academic freedom
This memo is based on a 1972 statute that stopped any non-healthcare professionals from the “advertisement of any medicine or means for producing or facilitating a miscarriage or abortion.” This is very clearly an old, outdated law that should not exist. However, this is the exact law that limits academic freedom 50 years later.
The lack of educational freedom is not a new thing for Idaho. However, most of the time this censorship happens in high schools, not colleges. Concepts like evolution, climate change and sex education all are rarely discussed, if ever, in high school classrooms. That is where it feels like we are again, back in high school classrooms. Professors are having to walk on eggshells to make sure they don’t get in trouble.
The university’s memo was sent out without regard for those impacted the most — faculty. Our professors and advisors are now in a difficult spot where they are unsure of the protection of their free speech.
This isn’t what college should be. Professors should be able to discuss what they deem appropriate for their course. While this memo doesn’t directly say that staff aren’t able to talk about abortions, the vagueness of the memo means that it’s such a blurry line, it would be difficult to talk about without risking possibly breaking a law.
The past few weeks, UI’s faculty have been in a tough situation, with questions going unanswered. Many expressed their frustrations at Faculty Senate while speaking with a General Counsel lawyer, Kent Nelson. Here, Nelson said that the memo was broad and confusing
“If laws were clear, I would be an accountant,” Kant said.
The memo even includes a section about classroom discussions where they say that discussions should be held carefully. While the memo states that academic freedom supports classroom discussions about abortions, in the very same sentence they say that these discussions should be limited. UI doesn’t get to promote academic freedom while still telling staff to limit these discussions in classrooms if they want anyone to take this memo seriously.
President Scott Green’s newest communication two weeks later reminded everyone that the abortion memo was not a university policy, but guidance on Idaho law. Yet, it is the university’s push that is halting discussions on abortion across campus.
The new communication goes on to clarify that there will not be changes to students’ access to contraceptives, contradicts the fact that faculty cannot provide condoms with the intention of birth control, Condoms can no longer be given as contraceptives, but only for preventing STDs.
This is why we have seen national backlash from the original memo. The contents of it are abhorrent and it was written in a way that gives no direction in what staff should do. This has led to there being a lot of eyes on UI. There has been everything from a truck driving around campus with a billboard promoting abortion pills traveling to Moscow, to a White House statement.
“The memo quickly took on a life of its own with misinformation, confusion and emotion leading the conversation,” UI newest communication said.
But this seems to downplay it. An assault on professor’s academic freedom to discuss a topic freely should be met with backlash.
While this memo isn’t based on UI policy, it was still their choice to send it. At this time, no other public universities in Idaho have similar memos. Putting this out was a choice UI made to limit the academic freedom of professors and to protect themselves from the state, instead of standing for their own faculty.
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Mira
Very funny way for a university to show they do not care about not only its staff but also its students. This is a surefire way to ensure students will either not pursue an education or complete their education, as reproductive health is a huge reason AFAB students DO NOT GET A DEGREE. Not talking about abortions, condoms, implants, or what have you will not prevent students from having sex or getting pregnant. They are still going to do it and the student numbers will fall dramatically due to the lack of information given to them. Staff who work in education because they care about their students and care about the value of education Idahoans receive will suffer because they will absolutely see their AFAB students drop out, not enroll, and so on due to these policies. We cannot pretend this doesn’t disproportionately affect AFAB students.