On January 23, 2026, Texas Tech University’s Health Sciences Center canceled a talk scheduled to be given by retired doctor and abortion rights activist Shelley Sella on January 26, 2026.
The talk titled “Beyond Limits: A Conversation with Shelley Sella, MD” and hosted by Medical Students for Choice, a national student group, was intended to address third-trimester “abortion care, ethics, and patient-centered medicine.” On January 19, Turning Point USA launched a campaign urging Texas Tech to cancel the event. The campaign included phone calls and social media appeals, including to Texas Tech System Chancellor Brandon Creighton. The group argued that since third-trimester abortion is illegal in Texas, a speaker should not be permitted to discuss it on government property. On January 23, Texas Tech canceled the event, stating that it had “determined that it is not in the best interest of the university to host this event on campus.”
Scholars at Risk is concerned about a university cancellation of an academic discussion in response to external pressure. While actors outside higher education have a right to express their concerns about discourse on campus, higher education institutions and their leaders have a responsibility to resist external pressures and to defend the academic freedom and free expression rights of members of their community, including speakers invited to participate in on campus events. Cancelling academic events in response to external pressures undermines institutional autonomy, academic freedom, and democratic society generally.
Sources:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/01/30/abortion-rights-advocate-talk-canceled-after-tpusa-pressure
https://radio.kttz.org/2026-02-06/texas-tech-university-health-sciences-center-cancels-student-event-on-campus-turning-point-chapter-takes-credit
https://pen.org/press-release/texas-tech-gives-into-political-pressure-to-cancel-a-talk/
https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/fire-letter-texas-tech-university-health-sciences-center-january-30-2026