Party Leaders Boost Anti-Abortion Democrat Ahead Of His Election

South Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar is one of the last remaining anti-choice Democrats in the House.

By Paul Blest, Vice

In a Texas Democratic primary between an anti-abortion Democrat whose home and office were raided by the FBI and a young, progressive, pro-choice woman, top House Democrats—including Speaker Nancy Pelosi—are going with the former.

Even after it became clear this week that the Supreme Court is apparently planning to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, a longtime Democratic congressman from Texas’ 28th Congressional District, won a plurality of support in the March primary over Jessica Cisneros, a progressive 28-year-old immigration lawyer whom Cuellar narrowly defeated in 2020. They’ll face each other in a runoff election on May 24 to decide the Democratic nominee, which Democrats view as key to their slim chances of maintaining a House majority next year.

Rep Henry Cuellar sits in front of a microphone during a Congressional hearing

The conservative Cuellar is avowedly anti-choice, one of the few Democrats left in the House who fits that description. Last year, he was the only House Democrat to vote against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would protect abortion access as a matter of federal law and was passed after Texas banned abortion after six weeks.