Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center cancelled an event late last month, organized by a student group, which was meant to feature a conversation about third-trimester abortion. The decision has been met with support and criticism – including from free speech advocacy groups.
The event, originally scheduled for Jan. 26 by the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) chapter of Medical Students for Choice, was entitled “Beyond Limits: A Conversation with Shelley Sella, MD.”
Sella was the first woman in the U.S. to openly practice third-trimester abortion care. And her book Beyond Limits is a tribute to the people and stories who are “more complex than politicized conversations about abortion lead us to believe.”
Texas Tech’s chapter of Turning Point USA was joined by local conservative activist Jim Baxa and anti-abortion advocate Mark Lee Dickson, in calling upon the university to cancel the event.
In a release posted to social media on January 23, Turning Point at Texas Tech praised the decision and said the group's president “played an integral role in the cancellation of this event.”
The statement went on to say that it was not attempting to suppress free speech, but that the discussion of abortion in the state of Texas would be “promoting illegal activities” and should not be held on a public university campus.
TTUHSC did not address whether Turning Point USA, Baxa, or Dickson played a part in the decision to no longer permit the conversation.
Following the cancellation, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression – or FIRE – sent a letter to the Health Sciences Center President Lori Rice-Spearman, asking that the students be allowed to reschedule their event.
The author of the letters, Haley Gluhanich is a lawyer who focuses on student rights. She said the First Amendment does protect discussion of unlawful conduct.
“The First Amendment protects the advocacy of unlawful conduct. It protects people talking about unlawful conduct,” she said. “What is not allowed is actually engaging in unlawful conduct. So advocating for it, talking about it, debating it, learning about it, absolutely protected.”
In the first week of February, FIRE has defended free speech of college students on both sides of the issue of immigration enforcement, calling on universities to cease investigations into student posters depicting violence against both protestors and immigration agents.
As a public institution, Gluhanich said Texas Tech is obligated to uphold the First Amendment and that the university would not be held accountable for the speech of a student group.
“Speech of a student organization is not the speech of the university,” she explained. “So the university would not have to worry about ‘Oh, well, now we're going to be held accountable,’ or whatever it may be, because it's not their speech. It is the speech of the student organization.”
The health sciences center issued a statement to KTTZ saying that it “evaluated the request and determined that it is not in the best interest of the university to host this event on campus.”
Gluhanich said that cancelling an event due to backlash would be “allowing objectors to speech to dictate what speech may take place on the campus,” rather than allowing all speech protected by the First Amendment.
Turning Point at Texas Tech thanked system Chancellor Brandon Creighton, Mark Lee Dickson, and Jim Baxa for “their work in upholding the law, defending the truth, and standing for what is right.”
Dickson is the director of Right to Life of East Texas and the founder of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn initiative. He has advocated against abortion across the midwest, including for sanctuary city policies in the City of Lubbock and Lubbock County.
Baxa is a local conservative activist and fellow anti-abortion advocate. He is currently running for Lubbock County Clerk.
Regardless of individual s opinion, Gluhanich said that the cancellation of events by a public entity should not be celebrated.
“When you allow a university to cancel an event because people are opposed to it, maybe next year, it's your event,” she explained. “If you want to make sure that your speech and your views and opinions are protected in the future, you need to take a principled stance and protect everyone's free speech rights.”
This is the second time in the past several months that the Texas Tech University System has been the subject and recipient of letters from FIRE with concerns for free expression on its campuses.
KTTZ reached out to the TTUHSC chapter of Medical Students for Choice and Dr. Shelley Sella, but did not hear back before the publication of this story.