Texas College Cancels “Illegal” Speech by Abortion Provider

2.2.26

Click to skip ahead: Texas College Cancels “Illegal” Speech by Abortion Provider; Anti-Abortion Snitch Culture Comes to Campus; Arizona’s Anti-Abortion Roadmap; In the States: Virginia, Indiana, Connecticut & More; Everything You Need to Know About the FACE Act Arrests; Abortion Movement Issues Empty Threats Against Trump; Coming Tomorrow

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Texas College Cancels “Illegal” Speech by Abortion Provider

The attacks on pro-choice speech are ramping up—especially on college campuses. Abortion, Every Day has learned that Texas Tech University has canceled a speech by Dr. Shelley Sella, the first woman to openly practice third-trimester abortion care in the U.S., and the author of Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care.

The school canceled Dr. Sella’s speech after being lobbied by the Texas chapter of Turning Point USA—an organization of supposed free speech enthusiasts. Chapter president Preston Parsons told Inside Higher Ed that this wasn’t censorship or an attack on speech because Dr. Sella “would be speaking on government property, supporting an illegal activity.”

This is the same argument that anti-abortion leaders and legislators have been using to suppress speech across the country: Republican attorneys general in South Dakota and Kentucky are trying to take down ads from Mayday Health by arguing they violate state law by linking to their pro-choice website; North Dakota’s AG sent a cease-and-desist to an abortion fund because the group links to a website that links to abortion providers; and South Carolina Republicans have introduced a bill that would criminalize even lending someone money for abortion. That’s to say nothing of past legislative efforts to make pro-choice websites illegal.

All of which is to say: these attacks are getting more explicit.

It also appears that Turning Point USA didn’t act alone: the group lobbied Texas Tech officials with Mark Lee Dickson, the anti-abortion extremist who travels town-to-town passing ‘abortion trafficking’ ordinances. In other words, this was a coordinated effort.

If you want to hear what Texas Tech is so afraid of, consider revisiting my conversation with Dr. Sella below. And remember—this is why it’s so important to support AED with a paid subscription, if you’re able. In a moment when attacks on pro-choice speech are on the serious rise, we’re doubling down.

Stigma, 'Viability', and All-Trimester Abortion Care

Anti-Abortion Snitch Culture Comes to Campus

The cancellation of Dr. Sella’s event is just one of many campus crackdowns on pro-choice speech. AED has been tracking the attacks on professors, in particular, since the end of Roe: there’s been a marked rise in right-wing media harassment campaigns directed at teachers who do so much as utter a pro-choice word.

Right now, for example, conservatives are trying to undo the promotion of a Notre Dame global affairs professor over her alleged “public advocacy for abortion rights.” That ‘advocacy’? A 2022 op-ed opposing abortion bans.

Again, this isn’t an anomaly—but part of the broader conservative attack on academia that’s gained steam over the last few years. And it’s not just impacting a few schools or professors: anti-abortion groups are determined to eradicate any iota of pro-choice speech on college campuses.

Consider this new study from Students for Life, which calls out hundreds of Christian colleges for “supporting” or “promoting” abortion. The anti-abortion group documented 533 “infractions”—from a school-affiliated website linking to Planned Parenthood, to a profile of an alumnus who interned at the organization.

The organization also asks students and staff to report these “infractions” on their website:

And that’s the thing—anti-abortion surveillance isn’t just about prosecutors collecting our phone data or cops using automated license plate readers. It’s about snitch culture: healthcare providers turning in miscarriage patients, abusers using their ex-wife’s text messages to sue abortion providers—and now anti-abortion organizations deputizing students to snitch on teachers, campus health centers, or student groups.

Arizona’s Anti-Abortion Roadmap

Speaking of the anti-abortion focus on college campuses, let’s take a look at Arizona. Right now, Republicans are advancing legislation that would make it illegal for employees at public universities or community colleges to “encourage or facilitate” abortion.

Under HB 2060, not only could a professor who says something pro-choice be breaking the law—campus health centers would be legally prohibited from telling pregnant students that abortion is an option.

And that’s very much the point. Even though Arizona voters codified abortion protections in the state constitution, bill sponsor Rep. Rachel Keshel says staff at state-funded schools shouldn’t be able to relay any abortion information whatsoever.

“Those taxpayer dollars should not be used to directly or indirectly promote or assist an intentional ending of a preborn life,” she said.

This seems like a preemptive move by Republicans. Because remember, other states with abortion protections—like California, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts—require public universities to provide students with abortion medication, either directly through campus health centers or via partnerships with community providers.

So as Arizona Republicans scramble to claw back any control they can after voters rejected abortion bans, they’re also laying the groundwork to shut down information and wall off students from care.

Unfortunately, that’s not the only anti-abortion bullshit in Arizona this week: Republicans there are also pushing an ‘equal protection’ bill that would allow abortion patients to be brought up on criminal charges. (If there’s anything I’ve learned about anti-abortion legislators, it’s that they’ll go to any lengths necessary to punish women.)

Usually, ‘equal protection’ bills classify abortion at any point as homicide. But because abortion is protected in the Arizona constitution, HB 2074 goes about it differently: it would allow civil and criminal charges against patients who have ‘partial birth’ abortions. As you probably know, there is no such thing as ‘partial birth abortions’. This is a political term conservatives invented to drum up outrage and criminalize abortion later in pregnancy.

But that doesn’t mean this bill isn’t dangerous. Just the opposite: it provides a clear roadmap of where conservatives are headed next. And—just as I predicted—they’re looking to do away with ‘life of the mother’ exceptions.

HB 2074 claims later abortion “is never medically necessary to preserve the life of a mother,” stating that “advances in modern medicine have eliminated any circumstance” for life-saving abortion later in pregnancy.

For years, I’ve warned that Republicans were laying the groundwork to claim abortions are never medically necessary because women can just have c-sections—or what they call ‘maternal-fetal separations’. Now here we are.

Conservatives Want to End 'Exceptions' for Women’s Lives

The term ‘loophole’—which I’ve also warned about—made an appearance, too:

“The previous exception for so-called life of the mother cases created a false loophole, exploited by abortion providers to disguise elective procedures as emergencies. That exception is therefore eliminated.”

No matter what happens with this bill, one thing is clear: Republicans are willing to push the most extreme legislation even in places where voters want abortion rights protected. The further out we get from Roe, the more explicit and fearless they get.

In the States: Virginia, Indiana, Connecticut & More

Now that Virginia Democrats have successfully placed a pro-choice amendment on the 2026 ballot, Republicans are replaying all their greatest hits—recycling the talking points we’ve heard in every state that’s considered an abortion rights measure.

State Sen. Glen Sturtevant called it “the most extreme abortion amendment in the nation,” and claimed the measure would stop the state from regulating abortion “all the way down to inspecting clinics for basic safety standards.” Sturtevant also said the amendment would impact parental consent, enable human traffickers, and took issue with the term “reproductive freedom”:

“This amendment says, ‘Every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom.’ One of the questions is: What does that mean for the father? A father who does not want to pay child support could say, ‘This was not my decision. This violates my right to reproductive freedom.’”

These people are so exhausting.

Over in Indiana, Republicans are advancing a “Success Sequencing” bill. AED flagged this term/tactic last year: the idea is to teach kids that there’s a certain life path they should take, and that deviating from that sequence of events—say, by having sex before marriage—will irrevocably fuck them up. From SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change:

“Such programming shames and puts the blame on individuals by asserting that students can ‘avoid poverty’ only if they follow a specific life trajectory that includes waiting until marriage to have sex and kids.”

And in fact, that’s exactly what Senate Bill 88 does: it requires schools to teach that part of “good citizenship” is waiting until marriage to begin having children. Indiana Republicans are also pushing ahead with an extreme bill to restrict abortion pills.

In better news…

Connecticut is launching a new billboard campaign to raise awareness about its free abortion legal hotline. The hotline is run by Reproductive Equity Now Foundation, state Attorney General William Tong, and a group of pro bono attorneys. One of those volunteer lawyers, Christopher Mattie, told the CT Mirror, “Whenever civil liberties are under attack, it is important for lawyers to step up and to fulfill their obligations and their duty to help people understand what their rights are.”

Tong also encouraged other Connecticut residents with legal expertise to step forward, help out, and come together as a community. ​“If anybody comes into Connecticut to try to take rights away from women and patients and doctors and nurses, they will have to come through us,” he said.

The Connecticut Abortion Legal Hotline can be reached by calling (833) 309-6301.

Quick hits:

• A Texas man has refiled his lawsuit against a California abortion provider under HB 7;

• Florida’s Attorney General is sparring with a Republican state representative over his (tenuous) connection to Planned Parenthood;

• Nebraska legislators discussed an anti-abortion ‘coercion’ bill;

• And meet the six finalists for the vacancy on North Dakota’s Supreme Court.

Everything You Need to Know About the FACE Act Arrests

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the FACE Act in the news this much. As you likely know by now, former CNN anchor Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort were arrested last week using a federal law meant to protect abortion clinics. It’s a little confusing, so read Abortion, Every Day’s coverage here or watch (and share) my 3-minute explainer below:

Abortion Movement Issues Empty Threats Against Trump

Every day, the anti-abortion movement trots out another empty threat against the Trump administration. The latest? Fury over the White House’s move to pause Louisiana’s mifepristone case.

Remember: Louisiana is suing the FDA over abortion medication in an attempt to restrict the pills (telehealth access, specifically). But last week, the Trump administration asked a federal court to pause that case until the FDA finishes its bogus ‘safety review’ of the drug. Everyone knows what’s really going on: the White House doesn’t want abortion to be an issue in the midterms, so they’re slow-rolling.

As expected, the anti-abortion movement is seriously pissed off. Kristen Waggoner, president of Alliance Defending Freedom, wrote on X that “the admin should stand with Louisiana—not with abortion extremists like Gavin Newsom and Letitia James.” And in a statement, Marjorie Dannenfelser of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said the “denial of justice by the DOJ is completely unacceptable.”

Dannenfelser also accused the FDA of delaying their review of mifepristone “out of political fear.”

“Ignoring the pro-life base is a tremendous miscalculation. …The more the Trump-Vance administration drags its feet, the worse it is for them ahead of midterms.”

Here’s the thing: anti-abortion groups—Dannenfelser’s in particular—keep promising to sit out the midterms or withdraw key support. But the White House doesn’t seem super concerned. That’s because they know these activists are all talk, no action.

So long as the Trump administration keeps throwing them a bone now and then—like the newly-expanded Mexico City policy—the vast majority of the anti-abortion movement will just keep falling in line.

That’s why it’s so vital for us to pay attention to their state- and local-level attacks: that’s where anti-abortion groups are making the biggest and boldest moves.

Coming Tomorrow

Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s newsletter—Kylie and I will tell you about Planned Parenthood’s decision to drop their lawsuit against the Trump administration, what’s new about the suit against a California abortion provider, and how anti-abortion organizations are pushing out a handful of shitty polls in the hopes of convincing Republican leaders (and donors) that they can bring home a win or two yet.