TORONTO, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — The Toronto Metropolitan University has promised to change its policy barring pro-life students from campus resources in a recent settlement. 

According to a court settlement viewed by the National Post, the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) has agreed to repeal its policy banning pro-life students from campus events after a student, Talia Battista, filed a human rights complaint after being barred from a campus event due to her pro-life stance.  

“(I) want to thank all of the individuals who have supported me and my family throughout the years, through your encouragement, financial support, and your prayers,” the student, Talia Battista, said in a statement. 

According to terms of the settlement, TMSU will repeal Operational Policy #28, which excluded pro-life students from accessing campus resources. 

“No TMSU resources, space, recognition or funding will be allocated to enhance groups/individuals whose primary/sole purpose is anti-choice activities,” the policy previously stated.   

“Such activities are defined as any campaigns, actions, distribution, solicitation, or lobbying efforts that seek to limit an individual’s right to choose what they can or cannot do with their own body,” it continued, euphemistically referring to the murder of unborn children in abortion. 

The controversial policy is set to be replaced with “a new ‘Issues Policy’ that reflects TMSU’s strong commitment to remaining a pro-choice students’ union.”

The union also promised to conduct “human rights training for all TMSU employees, staff, and board members.” The training will include guidelines on “discrimination on the basis of creed and the interface between creed and an individual’s pro-life beliefs.” 

In 2017, Battista was excluded from a student union meeting for survivors of sexual assault. She was told that her pro-life views contradicted the pro-abortion policy of the student union. Battista told a student union representative that she was excluded from the meeting and that she was not going to bring up pro-life issues. 

After the representative spoke to her manager, Battista was told that because she was an executive of Ryerson Students for Life, she would be excluded from all student union services. The Students for Life club, however, was not present on campus, having been banned by the student union. Further, Battista never belonged to the Ryerson chapter of Students for Life. 

After attempting to resolve issues with the student union by appealing to Ryerson University (the former name of Toronto Metropolitan University) administration, Battista filed a legal challenge against Ryerson and its student union with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. 

“My claim is that my pro-life beliefs are founded on my creed based on my Christian faith,” Battista told LifeSiteNews in 2023. “This is something that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has never definitively ruled on, whether or not pro-life beliefs fit the definition of creed.”