The legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) petitioned the Supreme Court Jan. 28 to hear the case of E.D. v. Noblesville School District after an Indiana high school banned a student’s pro-life group.
In 2021, a student, identified in the court case as E.D., from Noblesville High School in Indiana, obtained permission from her principal to start a Students for Life (SFL) club at the high school. According to ADF, the club was one of over 70 other student-led clubs.
However, when E.D. asked to print posters from Students for Life of America (SFLA)’s website, school administrators told her that the posters were “too political” since they included students holding signs that said “Defund Planned Parenthood.” Then, the principal ordered for the club to be shut down altogether, according to ADF.
In December 2021, advocacy group Charitable Allies represented E.D. in a lawsuit against Noblesville School District alleging the school violated her 1st and 14th Amendment rights. The court ruled in favor of the school in March 2024, and ADF and Charitable Allies then appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th District.
In August 2025, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the school. This month, ADF appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.
“Students don’t lose their constitutionally protected freedom of speech when they walk into a school building,” John Bursch, ADF senior counsel and vice president of Appellate Advocacy, said in a Jan. 28 press release. “A school can’t tell a high-school student or student organization that they can’t publicly express pro-life messages that are important to them.”
SFLA president Kristan Hawkins said in the release “Free speech rights you can’t use don’t exist. We are not going to forget about our students’ rights or ignore attempts to silence them, no matter how long it takes.”