


Left-wing student organizations at the Georgetown University Law Center issued a letter of condemnation for the Federalist Society hosting conservative lawyer Erin Hawley, the spouse of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who discussed Wednesday where the pro-life legal movement is headed after the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The letter was uploaded in an Instagram post by an LGBT student group at GULC known as OutLaw and joined by the liberal American Constitution Society's division at the university, saying, "GULC condemn in the strongest possible terms" the event titled "After Dobbs," a reference to the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization high court decision overturning Roe.
WATCHDOG SHAMES GEORGETOWN, OTHERS IN ANNUAL LIST OF WORST COLLEGES FOR FREE SPEECH
The groups said they were "troubled" over the event led by Erin Hawley, who previously clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts and serves as senior counsel for the conservative powerhouse firm Alliance Defending Freedom, saying "Georgetown Law's willingness to host Mrs. Hawley on campus and encourage them to take a stronger stance in preventing hate and misinformation from having a home in Georgetown."
The university is considered the oldest Catholic and Jesuit college in the U.S. and has held numerous events hosted by the Federalist Society over the years.
Hawley's discussion centered on "where the pro-life legal movement can and should go in a post-Roe world." In response to the letter, Hawley told the Washington Examiner she was grateful for the students who attended the event.
"I'm glad that there are brave students on campus that are willing to stand up for life and to stand up for fundamental constitutional principles," Hawley said, noting there were around "35-40" students who attended her event. A spokesperson for ADF told the Washington Examiner that there were no public disruptions surrounding the speaking event.
It’s not in any real sense, other than to occasionally cloak the usual social-justice tropes in Jesuitical language. But these groups here should combine to form “law students against free speech and civil discourse.” And referring to the tired SPLC “hate group” thing is so ???? https://t.co/KurSADE6UL
— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) March 2, 2023
Ilya Shapiro, who was placed on paid leave days before he was set to assume a new position as the executive director of the Center for the Constitution at Georgetown Law last year, joked in a tweet Thursday that the groups condemning Hawley's event should form "law students against free speech and civil discourse."
Shapiro's discipline was brought for a tweet that criticized President Joe Biden for vowing to pick a black woman to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Officials investigated the incident for nearly four months and later cleared Shapiro of any wrongdoing, finding that his tweets were made before he officially assumed the role.
He also indicated that the group was citing a "tired" allegation from the Southern Poverty Law Center that the ADF is an "anti-LGBTQ hate group." The ADF describes the SPLC on its webpage as a "once a respected civil rights organization" that "devolved into a fear mongering, money-raising machine."
The ADF has had influence in prominent litigation battles across the nation, including its backing of a Texas lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration seeking to reverse the agency's decades-old approval of a popular abortion-inducing drug known as mifepristone.
The group also backed a Supreme Court challenge arguing Colorado's anti-discrimination law is chilling one of their clients from starting her custom wedding website service, saying it would force her to create messages celebrating same-sex weddings against her will.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Georgetown University has been embroiled in controversy from conservative scholars and advocates who say the university has endured growing censorship on its campus. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression released its annual list of worst colleges for freedom of speech last month, awarding the university its fifth "Lifetime Censorship Award" for initiating the investigation against Shapiro.
The Washington Examiner contacted the GULC for response.