Cisneros calls on House leaders to retract support for Cuellar over abortion stance

Progressive Texas congressional candidate Jessica Cisneros on Wednesday called on House Democratic leaders to retract their support for incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), citing his abortion stance.

“As the Supreme Court prepares to overturn Roe v. Wade, I am calling on Democratic Party leadership to withdraw their support of Henry Cuellar who is the last anti-choice Democrat in the House,” Cisneros said in a statement.

“At every turn, my Congressman has stood in opposition to the Democratic Party agenda from being anti-union to being anti-choice,” she said, arguing Cuellar could stand in the way of reproductive rights.

Cuellar and Cisneros are slated to face off in a primary election runoff on May 24. The development comes as House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is slated to hold a rally for Cuellar in Texas on Wednesday.

Cisneros’s comments come after a leaked Supreme Court draft decision published by Politico on Monday showed the high court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Cuellar issued a statement on Tuesday calling himself a anti-abortion Catholic while adding that abortion should not be outright banned.

“My faith is clear: abortion must be rare & safe,” Cuellar said.

Cuellar, among the last anti-abortion Democrats in Congress, represents Texas’s 28th District, which has a largely Hispanic and Roman Catholic population.

However, Cisneros has leaned into her abortion rights stance throughout the course of the primary. Prior to the leak of the draft opinion on Monday, NARAL Pro-Choice America announced it was doubling down on efforts to elect Cisneros in the runoff by rolling out a new digital ad, increasing its door knocking and phone banking and sending four members of its organizing staff to the district.