A scheduled talk by a late term abortionist on Monday will no longer proceed at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
“Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center evaluated the request and determined that it is not in the best interest of the university to host this event on campus,” TTUHSC told Texas Scorecard in a statement.
The decision follows several days of behind-the-scenes activism by the Turning Point USA chapter at Texas Tech, in collaboration with pro-life activists Mark Lee Dickson and Jim Baxa. Baxa is currently a candidate for Lubbock County clerk.
The campaign began Monday, January 19, when the local Knights of Columbus chapter informed TPUSA that Shelly Sella, a New Mexico doctor who performs third-trimester abortions, was scheduled to speak at TTU’s Health Sciences Center.
Sella is the author of Beyond Limits: Stories of Third Trimester Abortion Care. Sella describes herself as “the first woman to openly practice third-trimester abortion care in the U.S., which she did for 20 years.”
The talk in question, billed as “A physician’s perspective on third-trimester abortion care, ethics, and patient centered medicine,” was sponsored by Medical Students for Choice, a national organization with no clear ties to Texas Tech.
Upon learning of this event, TPUSA, working with Dickson and Baxa, spent several days making phone calls and contacting key personnel. The efforts included direct appeals to Texas Tech System Chancellor Brandon Creighton over social media.
During its appeals, the coalition emphasized that it was pushing for Texas Tech to follow the law, not attempting to restrict Sella’s speech.
The city of Lubbock outlawed abortion in a 2021 referendum. Lubbock County followed suit two years later.
Abortion is also illegal across the state of Texas, under a law passed by state lawmakers in anticipation of the 2022 Dobbs decision.
The group argued that Texas Tech’s status as a university subsidized by Texas taxpayers, that resides within the jurisdiction of the city and county of Lubbock, would have meant that TTUHSC was to host a speaker that would be promoting an illegal activity in a government building on government land.
While the event in a taxpayer subsidized facility was halted, organizers remain free to reschedule on private property.
“I am elated that Texas Tech has taken this action,” Preston Parsons, the president of TPUSA Texas Tech, told Texas Scorecard.
“Under the leadership of Chancellor Brandon Creighton, Texas Tech has upheld truth and stands for what’s right,” Parsons continued. “Turning Point USA at Tech will ALWAYS be vehemently pro-life, I would like to thank all of those who have fought, and will continue to fight, with us to protect the sacred lives of the unborn.”
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center is a component institution of the Texas Tech University System. The system is overseen by a Board of Regents that is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. Cody Campbell of Fort Worth is the current board chairman.
