The Associated Press
2/4/03 2:33 AM
CHARDON, Ohio (AP) -- A high school junior in suburban Cleveland has been given Saturday detention for wearing a sweatshirt with an anti-abortion message.
Bill Noyes, 17, was given detention Monday after he was ordered to take off the sweatshirt or turn it inside out. Two students said they were offended by the "Abortion Is Homicide" message.
The back of the sweatshirt reads: "You will not silence my message. You will not mock my God. You will stop the killing of my generation. Rock For Life."
With his mother's permission, Noyes left Chardon High School following the afternoon confrontation.
"I should not have to take off a shirt that explains my morals," he said.
Principal Doug DeLong said the shirt became a disruption for at least two students out of more than 1,200. The school forbids clothing items that interfere with the educational environment, DeLong said.
Lawyers with Rock For Life, a pro-life organization that targets youth, are reviewing the situation, said spokesman Eric Whittington.
Noyes bought the sweatshirt from the Stafford, Va.-based group, which encourages students to wear clothing with pro-life messages.
The most remarkable thing about this story probably isn't the school's capitulation; it's that a newspaper actually used the media-banished term pro-life.