John Beasley - President, FTL

Upon graduation I would enter teaching...loved it...and I soondecided to pursue a doctorate in Twentieth Century American history. Igraduated with my Ph.D. and my wife Kaye, both from Ball StateUniversity. History jobs at the college level were tough to come by inthe seventies. I ended up working with some outstanding people in theDepartment of Secondary Education at S.I.U. in Carbondale. This wouldlead me to a desire to be more active and I obtained my principal’slicense. I spent the bulk of my years as a high school principal inWestfield, Indiana. A great place with neat kids.

Our children, Jeff and Lisa were gifts. My wife, Kaye, and Iadopted Jeff while we were at S.I.U. and Lisa was adopted while atWestfield. Jeff is now going to Valencia Community College and Lisawill enter her sophomore year in high school in the fall of ‘97.

After ten years as a principal in Indiana, the Florida climateattracted Kaye and I. We looked all over one summer and finally landedat Port Charlotte High School, where I teach U.S. History and Kaye isthe Assistant Librarian for the Charlotte County Library system.

My involvement in Freedom To Learn occurred totally by accident. Iwas going to make a presentation at Operation Rescue’s Impact session inMelbourne, Florida. This experience would lead me to the usefulness ofthe Casey decision. I had six hours to fill as a speaker. I had askedto speak for one hour...but others could not make it that day...so I wasgiven the six hours.

What to do? Research. I looked into the Casey decision...just tolearn more about it. I was stunned. Liberal journals saw the decisionas the end of Roe. The NATION, a very liberal journal, in an articleentitled, A Thousand Cuts, said that the court managed to uphold Roev. Wade on paper while eviscerating it in practice. The Caseydecision, it said stripped Roe of its status as a fundamental right. (July 27, 1992).

Chief Justice Rehnquist reinforced my interest. He said that theCourt ended abortion as a fundamental right. He went on: Whilepurporting to adhere to precedent, the joint opinion instead revisesit. Roe continues to exist, but only in the way a storefront on awestern movie set exists: a mere facade to give the illusion ofreality.”

This was the bottom line. The Casey decision ended Roe as afundamental right, which meant that the people...and their electedleaders could do just about anything they wanted to do with abortionexcept close the doors. This had tremendous implications for publicschools. Kids could learn about problems associated with abortion, justas they now know about the problems associated with smoking or drinking.

In March, of 1994, Life Advocate published an article I wrote aboutthe issue of abortion education and the implications of Casey. Icontacted James Bopp, General Counsel of National Right To Life. Hereis what he said:

Bopp: As a result of Court decisions like the funding cases andCasey, public schools can now offer strong pro-life curriculums at allgrade levels.
Beasley: Do most leaders in public education understand this?
Bopp: No.
Beasley: Do pro-lifers understand?
Bopp: No, not yet. (Life Advocate, March 1994)

Freedom to Learn exists to see that this situation ends...thateducators, students, and parents become aware that a new day has dawnedin the area of abortion education.

I was lucky to find people who were willing to become boardmembers, believed that students should have access to both sides of the story, and have a passion about the effort. We decided to call ourselves, Freedom To Learn.

John Beasley, 1997