GRETNA, Neb. – Gretna High School high school student Bridget Christensen refuses to take no for an answer.

The junior recently approached school officials with a proposal to start a school-sponsored pro-life student club called “Dragons for Life” through the organization Students for Life of America, but was roundly rejected by school officials because abortion is controversial, the Omaha World-Herald reports.

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School officials told Christensen that only student clubs that complement curriculum and are approved by the district’s attorney based on an unwritten policy are granted official status and can meet during school hours. Dragons for Life doesn’t qualify, officials said, so members can only meet before or after school.

“We’re a public school,” superintendent Kevin Riley told the news site. “It’s not just anybody’s socioeconomic, religious, political or ideological playground.”

The decision means Dragons for Life are forced to meet early before school on Tuesdays, instead of during the school day on Thursdays like school sponsored clubs, KETV reports.

“We are a legitimate club just like everyone else,” Christensen said. “We’re just not getting the same rights as other clubs.”

The Dragons for Life co-president contends the school’s rejection “is a big deal because many members can’t attend our own meetings.”

The situation prompted Christensen to request assistance from the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to religious liberty. The Thomas More Society attorneys sent a letter to Gretna Public Schools on Christensen’s behalf on Monday that spells out exactly why the refusal to sponsor Dragons for Life is illegal, and gives district officials until October 14 to reverse the decision or face litigation, KETV reports.

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The law firm contends the club’s rejection “constitutes a violation of Bridget’s rights under both the Federal Equal Access Act and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” The letter also asks for a formal written school policy for student clubs that does not lead to “treating some non-curricular clubs differently from others, simply on the basis of the club’s content.”

According to the World-Herald:

All sponsored clubs must serve a school purpose or complement the school curriculum, a district attorney told Dragons for Life students recently. But the Thomas More Society argues that the district isn’t being consistent with that policy.

It points out that several of Gretna High School’s sponsored clubs, such as Chess Club and the Gay Straight Alliance, have nothing to do with curriculum. The letter also alleges that the only nonsponsored clubs at Gretna High are a Christian club and Dragons for Life.

“What we are asking for is for them to treat (Christensen’s) pro-life club on an equal basis with the other student-led, non-curriculum-related clubs,” Thomas More Society attorney Jocelyn Floyd said, adding that the real issue is about “access, not titles.”

Gretna Public Schools attorney James Gessford contends that officials are simply trying to keep out controversial political, religious or commercial clubs, and asserted that school officials “need to maintain viewpoint neutrality and that’s basically what the law requires.”

But the Thomas More Society, as well as local ACLU officials, said students’ First Amendment rights supersede the district’s “viewpoint neutrality.”

“They can’t discriminate on the basis of religion or philosophy or other subject matter related issues,” ACLU of Nebraska’s Danielle Conrad told KETV. “It’s really about equal access and equal opportunity.”