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An antiabortion group called Students for Life recently filed a lawsuit in federal court against Wayne State University claiming that the school violated the group's First Amendment rights by denying a request for money for a week of antiabortion events, theAP/Chicago Tribunereports.

The group requested $4,000 from Wayne State's Student Council for publicity, fliers, T-shirts and snacks for the week. Students for Life wanted to hold a "pro-life trivia game" and allow students to have their picture taken with a model of a fetus. A smaller budget also was turned down. The lawsuit alleges that the events did not attract as many people as anticipated because of a lack of funds. According to the lawsuit, the council denied the request because of "spiritual and religious" references. According to Students for Life, the group does not have a specific religious affiliation.

The lawsuit asks a judge to declare the school's policy for how student fees are spent to be illegal and seeks an undisclosed monetary amount. "Access for these groups to funding and facilities must be provided without regard to the group's viewpoint," attorney Joseph Martins, said, adding, "When a public university enforces a viewpoint-discriminatory policy, the school violates the Constitution." According to the AP/Tribune, a message seeking comment was left with Wayne State's public relations staff (White, AP/Chicago Tribune, 7/24).

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