Students for Life of America

Students for Life of America (SFLA), also known as simply Students for Life (SFL), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, anti-abortion organization that has formed groups of high school and college students across the country. Currently, there are over 2,000 SFL student groups across the nation. Since 2006, more than 160,000 anti-abortion activists have completed SFLA training.

SFLA has faced legal issues resolved in its favor since its inception, notably with Boise State University and with two undergraduate students attending Yale University, in the last decade.

In 2022, SFLA celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade. SFLA remains active, and organization President Kristan Hawkins continues to lead its efforts.

History
SFLA was founded in 1988 as American Collegians for Life by students at Georgetown University. They run an event called "sockit2PP", protesting Planned Parenthood.

In the Fall Semester of 1976, prior to the inception of Students for Life, 77 California State University, Sacramento anti-abortion students formed United Students for Life. The faculty sponsor of the group was a Catholic Priest who was also a Criminal Justice Professor at that University, Father Edward MacKinnon. The group was about 50% Mormon with the remaining members of the group Catholics, Protestants, and one self-described atheist. Existing from 1976 until 1980, they held numerous rallies, instigated a statewide initiative campaign, helped form other anti-abortion student groups, worked on the Morton Downey, Jr. Presidential Campaign, and hosted the January 22, 1980 California State Rally for Life at the California State Capital.

Views and philosophy
President Kristan Hawkins is on record as opposing exceptions for rape and incest when banning abortion. The organization's stance on their website emphasizes the importance of providing love and support to women violated in a sexual assault. They pose the question, "If that assault results in pregnancy, aren’t there now two people affected by the assault? Two people in need of protection and care?"

Hawkins also opposes in vitro fertilization, calling it "literally a business model built on disposable children and treating children as commodities."

On March 10, 2024, President Kristan Hawkins made the disproved claim that the abortion drug, mifepristone, contributes to the pollution of water ways with pharmaceuticals, and that the drug negatively affects humans and animals.

Post-Roe
In an interview with NBC News, SFLA president Kristan Hawkins described the future plans for the organization after the overturning of Roe v. Wade (1973). She states that the organization will continue to work towards overturning legal abortion in every state with "a trained army of 150,000 young people" she describes as the "Post-Roe generation."

Legal issues
In 2015, Boise State University paid SFLA $20,000 to settle a freedom of speech lawsuit.

In 2022, two undergraduate students at Yale University were sent a cease-and-desist order from President Kristan Hawkins's legal team. This order was delivered in response to an interview the students conducted with her that, without her knowledge, was a parody of pro-life college students. The order also claimed that they had wrongfully used the SFLA logo, which was copyrighted material.

When the students did not respond to the initial complaint, they were sent a second cease-and-desist order. Ultimately, they chose to post the interview as a video on YouTube on November 5, 2022.