Indiana University: University Threatens to Punish Faculty Leaders for Email about Proposed Abortion Bill

In August 2022, seven Indiana University faculty members emailed IU’s faculty listserv to express concerns about a proposed state abortion bill they believed threatened IU’s reputation and the health and well-being of members of the IU community. The faculty co-authors also expressed disagreement with the Indiana Attorney General’s investigation of a medical school colleague for providing abortion medication to a 10-year-old rape victim and urged him to stop his public criticism of their colleague. An IU administrator emailed the authors a chilling warning that their email was grounds for discipline as it allegedly violated IU policy in conveying a personal opinion and not being approved by university officials. On April 10, 2023, FIRE wrote the university asking it to confirm it will not investigate or punish faculty for protected expression, and that it will permit employees like the faculty co-authors to speak on abortion and other matters of public concern, but IU refused to respond substantively to our concerns.