Supreme Court’s abortion draft upends Texas Democratic US House race

The Supreme Court’s leaked draft opinion has injected new urgency right into a Texas main that pits the House of Representatives’ lone anti-abortion Democrat in opposition to an advocate of abortion rights.

Progressive Democratic challenger Jessica Cisneros on Wednesday referred to as on high House Democrats to drop their assist for Representative Henry Cuellar, an 18-year-incumbent, over his anti-abortion stance, forward of a May 24 runoff main.

The draft confirmed the court docket could possibly be able to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade resolution that legalized abortion nationwide, and the leak despatched Cuellar scrambling to sq. his place together with his celebration.

“With the House majority on the line, he could very much be the deciding vote on the future of our reproductive rights and we cannot afford to take that risk,” Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration lawyer, mentioned in a press launch on Wednesday.

Democrats, together with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Whip James Clyburn and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer have endorsed and stood by Cuellar, who represents a average district in south Texas that features elements of San Antonio and areas bordering Mexico.

“As a Catholic, I do not support abortion, however we cannot have an outright ban,” Cuellar mentioned in a press release on Tuesday night.

Cuellar, 66, was the one House Democrat to vote in opposition to the Women’s Health Protection Act in 2021, which might have prohibited authorities restrictions on entry to abortion.

Pelosi mentioned in March that she helps Cuellar and all Democratic incumbents “from right to left. That is what I do.” Her workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Wednesday.

Clyburn was attending a Cuellar marketing campaign occasion on Wednesday. His workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark. A Hoyer spokesperson didn’t remark immediately on Cuellar.

Nationwide, 63% of voters say they assist candidates who oppose banning abortion, in line with a Reuters/Ipsos ballot on Tuesday.

A Cisneros victory over Cuellar within the main might threaten the celebration’s maintain on the seat within the Nov. 8 common election. Democrats are already involved about Democratic President Joe Biden’s low approval scores amid voter worries about inflation, COVID and immigration.

The main outcome might also be seen as a sign about how abortion politics might play out nationally in November. The Supreme Court leak might flip Texas Democrats in opposition to Cuellar, given his opposition to abortion.

“Once you start saying that what’s at stake is not limits on abortion but whether women should have access to abortion … there’s no gray areas here,” mentioned James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project on the University of Texas in Austin.

Even in a district that tends to be extra average than the remainder of the Democratic Party, the attainable overturning of Roe “gives Cisneros something to talk about that Henry Cuellar doesn’t have much room to hide on.”