Politico published a leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft opinion on Monday, indicating that the court is considering overturning the Roe v. Wade decision. The leak brought conversations on abortion to the forefront of the national stage and is heating up the runoff battle between Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28) and his Democratic primary challenger Jessica Cisneros. 

Last week, Cisneros released her first TV ad targeting Cuellar, a Democrat who opposes abortion. The ad, which targeted Cuellar’s stance on the issue, noted that Cuellar was the lone House Democrat who voted against legislation that would have codified the Roe v. Wade decision into law. 

“But on May 24, you can have the last word,” the ad said, addressing voters.

Two days after the Supreme Court draft leaked, Cisneros again went after Cuellar’s abortion stance by calling for Democratic leaders to drop their support for him. Her statement noted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) have all endorsed Cuellar. 

“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 Wednesday morning.

Cisneros added that “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.”

“The reality is I would be a better working partner for Democratic leadership to be able to deliver on these Democratic priorities and proposals that Democrats ran on in the last election cycle,” said Cisneros. 

Cisneros, 28, is endorsed by several pro-abortion groups, including NARAL Pro-Choice America, EMILY’s List, and leftist politicians U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

“Unfortunately, a future where Roe is overturned is a future that we know Henry Cuellar has been fighting for,” she told The Texas Tribune.

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On Tuesday evening, Cuellar issued a statement affirming that as a lifelong Catholic, he has always been opposed to abortion. Still, he denounced the possible decision indicated in the leaked draft. 

“Let me be clear about the leaked opinion of the potential SCOTUS ruling, it is not based on precedent and is not incremental in nature,” Cuellar said in the statement posted on his campaign’s Twitter account. “It will further divide the country during these already divisive times but let us wait until the final ruling.”

Rep. Cuellar continued, “I do not support abortion, however, we cannot have an outright ban. There must be exceptions in the case of rape, incest, and danger to the life of the mother,” he said. “My faith will not allow me to support a ruling that would criminalize teenage victims of rape and incest. That same faith will not allow me to support a ruling that would make a mother choose between her life and her child’s.”

Cuellar, 66, is the last remaining outlier among House Democrats on abortion.

When Cuellar joined Congress in 2005, the House was holding debates over whether government money should be used to fund abortions. During these early debates, Cuellar was part of a small group of Democrats who sided with Republicans in saying money from the government should not be used to fund abortions.

Since then, the Democrats whose opinion on abortion aligned with Cuellar’s have retired from politics, lost reelection, or repositioned themselves to align with the party’s pro-abortion stance. 

A September vote highlighted Cuellar’s position as the lone Democratic outlier on abortion. After the Texas Heartbeat Act passed, which banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified the right to an abortion at the federal level. The act has not passed the Senate. 

Cuellar was the lone House Democrat to vote in opposition, and he stood firm behind his vote.

“It’s called conscience,” Cuellar told the Laredo Morning Times in October. “I am a Catholic, and I do believe in rights and right to life. … Sometimes, people vote because of political [views]; they think this is a Democratic or Republican issue. To me, it’s a matter of conscience.”

Jason Casellas, an associate professor of political science at the University of Houston, said Cisneros attacking Cuellar over abortion rights would usually be effective in most Democratic primaries. However, Casellas says Democrats in South Texas “are not as liberal on this issue as Democrats elsewhere.”

Texas’ 28th congressional district covers much of deep south Texas, starting in the eastern outskirts of San Antonio, and ending at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Casella said that House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Pelosi, and other top Democrats would be unlikely to abandon their endorsements of Cuellar solely due to his anti-abortion position because his stance is more in line with that of the 28th district and its community.

“Due to his incumbency and moderate record in a fairly conservative district, Cuellar is the more electable candidate in November, and Pelosi and her team know that,” he said.

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