Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who recently won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, has built a long public record of statements supporting abortion rights, including calls for federal abortion services, campaign donations to pro-choice political groups, legislative proposals in Texas, and comments linking the issue to his religious views.
Talarico secured the Democrat nomination on March 3 after defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the primary contest for the seat currently held by Sen. John Cornyn. Crockett conceded and congratulated Talarico the next day but declined to campaign with him. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who had initially endorsed Crockett, quickly backtracked and endorsed Talarico after his victory.
On his campaign website, Talarico describes himself as “a Presbyterian seminarian studying to become a pastor,” declaring, “It’s time to elect a Senator who will actually fight for freedom, family, and faith — one who will stand up for the freedoms of every Texan, make it easier to start and care for a family, and defend the separation of church and state.”
“Politicians like John Cornyn and Ken Paxton claim to stand for freedom, family, and faith,” Talarico’s website continues, saying, “You can’t stand for freedom and control what we say, what we read, and what we do with our own bodies.”
The “Health Care” page on his website outlines that one of his priorities is:
Restore access to reproductive health care in Texas: Codify Roe v. Wade and protect access to contraception and IVF so that families can get the reproductive care they need and so that women are no longer dying needlessly due to Texas’ dangerous abortion ban.
The page also states, “Health care is a human right.”
Here are nine statements Talarico has made about abortion in posts, speeches, and interviews.
1. Letter Urging Biden to Use Federal Buildings for Abortion Services
In June 2022, following the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, Talarico posted a letter he sent to Joe Biden calling for executive actions to expand abortion access.
“Decades of jurisprudence and majorities of Americans have repeatedly affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion,” the letter states. “Yet an anti-choice minority has taken advantage of the undemocratic loopholes in our political system to impose their radical program on our country.”
“This minority is threatening our most basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Leaders at all levels must use every tool in the toolbox to protect our freedoms,” he continued.
Talarico urged the administration to consider leasing federal property to abortion clinics, prohibiting state restrictions on abortion medication through the FDA, and hiring abortion providers as federal employees.
“The General Services Administration manages more than 800 federally owned or leased buildings in Texas alone,” he wrote. “Just repurposing a small fraction of those spaces can provide critical life-saving care to people across my state.”
“We must act. Women in states like mine will die if we do not,” he concluded.
Talarico posted the letter on X with the caption:
Republicans stole the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court stole our rights.
We can’t just stand by and watch.
I’m calling on @JoeBiden to use federal buildings to provide abortion care to women in red states.
In the same thread he remarked, “Our political system is broken. Democrats have won the popular vote in 7 of the last 8 presidential elections. Yet there’s a radical anti-choice majority on the Supreme Court. Leaders at all levels have to start using every tool in the toolbox to protect our freedoms.”
He also claimed, “Ultimately, the only way to save American democracy is to abolish the undemocratic loopholes in our system — like the electoral college and the filibuster — and re-establish majority rule.”
2. Donating to Pro-Abortion Candidates and Advocacy Groups
In May 2022, Talarico posted a thread stating he had donated $10,000 to O’Rourke and another $10,000 to Annie’s List, an organization supporting pro-choice candidates in Texas.
“Without Roe, abortion rights will be decided by the states,” he wrote. “The antidote to despair is action. Let’s get to work.”
After the primary results this week, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) said on MS NOW’s The Briefing that “Texas will save the country” if James Talarico wins in November and becomes the 51st vote in the U.S. Senate.
Talarico also encouraged donations to abortion-related organizations, saying, “We should also support the critical work of groups like @PPGreaterTX, @avowtexas, and local abortion funds.”
“Texas is the key,” he added:
Roe v Wade was won by a Texas lawyer. 50 years later Texas Republicans shocked the nation by virtually banning abortion.
Flipping Texas is key to winning the presidency, changing the court, overcoming the filibuster, and protecting the rights of all Americans.
Talarico also referenced polling about abortion views, saying, “56% of Texans are pro-choice. 59% of Americans are pro-choice.”
He concluded the thread by referencing his family background in abortion activism:
When I was little, my mom volunteered for the Texas Abortion Rights Action League. She taught me that women will never be free until they belong to themselves.
I’m grieving for her and generations of feminists watching their progress unravel.
3. Attending Planned Parenthood “March for Women’s Lives” as a Teenager
In January 2013, Talarico posted about attending an abortion-rights rally as a teenager, saying, “This video brings back memories of being the only teenage boy at Planned Parenthood’s March for Women’s Lives in 2004.”
4. Praising Austin’s Decriminalization of Abortion
In July 2022, Talarico posted in response to a local policy change in Austin, Texas:
The city of Austin just decriminalized abortion.
Our local leaders are refusing to comply with Greg Abbott’s attack on Texans.
We need leaders at every level to use every tool in their toolbox to protect our freedom.
5. Filing a Bill to Put Abortion on the Ballot in Texas
In November 2022, Talarico announced legislation aimed at putting abortion policy before Texas voters.
“Red states — from Kansas to Kentucky — have voted to protect abortion access,” he wrote. “Today, I filed a bill to put abortion on the ballot in Texas. Let the people decide.”
Talarico also shared polling data in the thread from The Texas Tribune, which reported that 78 percent of Texas voters believe abortion should be allowed in some form, according to a poll from the University of Texas at Austin.
“Every poll shows that Texans overwhelmingly oppose a total abortion ban,” he wrote. “The lives of women and girls across our state are endangered by this extreme law. Under my bill, Texans would decide for themselves whether to reinstate Roe v. Wade.”
6. Campaign Messaging on Abortion Laws in Texas
In October 2024, ahead of the 2024 election, Talarico posted a video of himself speaking about abortion laws in Texas.
During the 2024 election cycle, Talarico posted a campaign video about abortion laws in Texas.
“Republican extremism is killing women in Texas,” he wrote in the caption. “Now they’re promising to take these deadly abortion bans nationwide. If they win in November, God help us.”
In the video he said, “When Donald Trump overturned Roe v Wade, Texas Republicans banned abortion, even in cases of rape, incest and threats to the mother’s health.”
He added:
Since then, 26,000 Texas women have been forced to give birth to their rapist’s baby.
Infant and maternal mortality have spiked.
This has never been about life. This has always been about controlling women.
Talarico further told the audience, “In some Texas counties, as you all know well, Republican politicians are trying to ban women from using public highways to travel out of state to get an abortion. Trump is saying he’s going to let red states monitor women’s pregnancies, and in their latest platform, the Texas GOP calls for the death penalty for women who get abortion care.”
7. Sermon Attempting to Define Womanhood and Defend Trans Identifying Individuals Ability to Have an Abortion
In a 2022 church sermon at his church, Talarico remarked:
This summer, more than half our population became second class.
Every one of our neighbors with a uterus became the property of the state, and nothing, nothing is more unChristian than that.
Before we go further, I want to acknowledge that our trans community needs abortion care too.
Defending trans Texans is something we have to do every day at the state capitol, and you better believe I’ll be giving sermons on that too.
“So when I use the word woman, it should not be understood as an exhaustive term, but rather as a lens through which to understand, examine, and interrogate patriarchy,” he concluded.
8. Speech Recounting His Mother’s Abortion Activism and Comparing Embryos to “Trillions of Living Organisms Inside of Us”
In another speech, Talarico stated:
My mom became an activist for women’s rights, volunteering with Planned Parenthood and Texas Abortion Rights Action League. And I remember going to TARAL offices after school because mom was helping to organize their big annual event, “Celebration of Choice.”
Now that word, choice, that word meant so much to my mom.
Choice meant consent, choice meant power, choice meant freedom. I remember when we were driving home from nights at the TARAL office. I was in the passenger seat, mom would turn to me, and she would remind me, women will never be free until they belong to themselves.
Women will never be free until they belong to themselves.
The disagreement about the legality of abortion is not a disagreement about life. It’s a disagreement about personhood. No one disagrees that an embryo is biologically alive. We each have trillions of living organisms inside of us right now as we sit and talk in the sanctuary.
“So the question is, is an embryo a legal person whose rights trump those of a woman?” he asked.
9. Distorting the Biblical account of Mary’s virgin birth to justify the killing of unborn children
During a July 2025 appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Talarico commented:
I say all this in context of abortion, because before God comes over Mary and we have the Incarnation, God asks for Mary’s consent, which is remarkable.
I mean, go back and read this. In Luke, the angel comes down and asks Mary if this is something she wants to do.
And she says, ‘if it is God’s will, let it be done. Let it be. Let it happen.’
So to me, that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories, that creation has to be done with consent.
You cannot force someone to create. Creation is one of the most sacred acts that we engage in as human beings. But that has to be done with consent.
It has to be done with freedom and to me, that is absolutely consistent with the ministry and life and death of Jesus.
“That’s how I come down on that side of the issue,” Talarico concluded.
