Texas must protect children—not settle for Talarico’s evasions

A Catholic voter in Fort Worth told James Talarico that the Bible is not silent on abortion and that parents are the primary educators of their children. CNN and Jubilee Media hosted the town hall live on Oct. 14. Voters came up to the stage and sat across from the Democratic Senate nominee to debate him. CNN reported that Talarico told Hunt, a Catholic who described herself as a “one-issue” voter on abortion²: “We’re both Christians, and the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion. It means you and I both have to look at different scriptures to try to come to a conclusion.” Hunt answered: “I just want to add that the Bible is not silent on abortion. There is the 10 Commandments: ‘Thou shall not kill.’”¹

Silent on which commandment?

“We’re both Christians, and the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion. It means you and I both have to look at different scriptures to try to come to a conclusion.”

James Talarico

His public-health frame avoids the child

He said he would not support abortion if he believed it was murder and violated that commandment. That sentence makes a child's life depend on one politician's private belief.

His best defense was public health. He claimed Texas' abortion ban has left “women dying in emergency room parking lots.” “And so, if we are authentically pro-life, I think we should be disturbed by the outcomes of this extreme abortion ban,” he argued. His remedy was “certain policy levers” short of a ban, which he said can reduce abortions nationwide¹. A lower count still leaves every remaining child without the law's protection. Hunt named a commandment; Talarico answered with a policy menu. Telling a Catholic voter that her Scripture says nothing on the question at the center of her faith shows how little weight he gives the families who read it.

Parents—not government—educate children

Hunt then turned to the classroom. She told Talarico that his call to expand contraception access and what he called “age-appropriate sex education” is a “very trying thing” for Catholics. “We believe the parents are the primary educators of our children, and so, one of the things that we really struggle with is having any government interference with how we educate our children,” she said¹.

When a Senate candidate calls for what he described as “age-appropriate sex education,” who decides what is appropriate? Hunt's answer was parents.

His surgery pledge conflicts with his Texas vote

Another voter pressed Talarico on a national ban on sex-change surgeries for minors under 18. CNN posted his answer: “Powerful people are using small minorities in our community to distract from their corruption.”³

Five weeks earlier, at a Sept. 9 food drive in Dallas, Fox News asked whether he would vote as a senator for a national ban on surgery for minors, and he answered, “Absolutely.” In 2023, he voted against SB 14, which prohibited certain sex-change surgeries, puberty blockers and certain hormone treatments for minors. Democrats offered 18 amendments to SB 14; Talarico voted for every one, and all of them failed. “If you go back and check, I voted for a major amendment to limit the bill to banning surgeries for minors,” he told Fox News⁴.

In United States v. Skrmetti, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s restriction on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors under rational-basis review in a 6-3 decision on June 18, 2025.

Voters should hold him to the vote

Hunt gave Talarico straight answers about the child in the womb and the parents who raise children. He gave her a conditional and a policy menu, and when minors came up, he changed the subject. A candidate who changes the subject on sex-change procedures for children is on defense, and Texas voters can see it.

Would he vote for SB 14 today, the whole law, yes or no? Do parents, not government, decide what their children are taught about sex, yes or no?

Texas must protect children—not settle for Talarico’s evasions

His public-health frame avoids the child

Parents—not government—educate children

His surgery pledge conflicts with his Texas vote

Voters should hold him to the vote

Sources