Talarico voted against coverage for transition-related harms
Aldaco says organizers kept her from the Oct. 14 town hall, where she wanted to challenge the Texas Senate candidate over his vote and Paxton’s settlement.
Texas families deserve James Talarico's answer: Texas Scorecard reports he voted against SB 1257, which requires health plans covering sex-change procedures to also cover adverse effects and follow-up care, and Soren Aldaco, a young woman who lived those consequences, tried to get that answer. On October 27, 2026, Soren Aldaco wrote: “In 2025, James Talarico voted against insurance protections for detransitioners.1 I wanted to ask him about that decision—and his reaction to his opponent's settlement—at the CNN town hall last week. They wouldn't let me. So, @jamestalarico... thoughts?” I wanted to ask him about that decision—and his reaction to his opponent's settlement—at the CNN town hall last week. They wouldn't let me. So, @jamestalarico... thoughts?”
Her post quoted Attorney General Ken Paxton: “BREAKING: The nation’s first-ever Detransition Clinic is now open as a result of my historic settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital.”1
Wouldn't let her ask what? The Texas House passed SB 1257 on third reading May 12, 2025; Gov. Greg Abbott signed it May 24, and it took effect Sept. 1, 20252. Texas Scorecard reports that James Talarico voted no on SB 1257.
The law requires coverage after transition
Texas Scorecard says the required coverage includes short- and long-term side effects, health monitoring, and treatment necessary to “manage, reverse, reconstruct from, or recover from”3 a procedure.
The governor signed SB 1257 into law2. Talarico was one of the no votes3.
Paxton's settlement goes further on the same front: Texas Scorecard reports it requires Texas Children's Hospital to establish the nation's first free, full-service detransition clinic3. Talarico voted against the repair.
Aldaco says she sought answers face to face
Fox News reports that Aldaco, 23, alleged she was groomed online and then pursued medical treatment as a teenager. On June 26, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that she had not missed the deadline to pursue her claims against a therapist and counseling provider, reversing a lower-court decision4.
She says she spent years trying to reach Talarico: "I tried to get in contact with you across five bills, four years and two sessions, and you wouldn't talk to me about bills." Fox News reports that CNN and Jubilee Media hosted Talarico’s Oct. 14 town hall, where he took questions from audience members and moderator Erin Burnett; Aldaco says it was her chance to ask him in person. "We tried to get me in that room to talk to him about this issue and to be able to give him my message through conversation," she told Fox News, and she says organizers told her only the evening before that she could not participate4.
What she asked for was modest: "He needs to have a long-form conversation, a real face-to-face with someone like me4." She was kept out of the room.
His surgery position leaves the vote unanswered
Talarico's campaign answer is that he does not support surgery for minors3. He has cast his past remarks on gender as a reaction, telling an interviewer, "I was put in a position where I had to fight back against that extremism4."
Neither answer touches SB 1257. That bill deals with what comes after a transition: the side effects, the monitoring, the reversal, the reconstruction.
Texas Scorecard asked his campaign why he voted against SB 1257, whether he still stands by that vote, and whether insurers that cover transition procedures should be required to cover adverse effects and detransition care. No response was received before publication3.
Parents deserve his answer before Nov. 3
Before Nov. 3, will Talarico explain why he voted against SB 1257 and sit down face to face with Soren Aldaco?
Sources
- @SorenAldaco on X, 2026-10-27: In 2025, James Talarico voted against insurance protections for detransitioners. I wanted to ask him about that decision—and his reaction to his opponent's settlement—at the CNN town hall last week. They wouldn't let me. So, @jamestalarico... thoughts?, 2026-10-27
- 89(R) History for SB 1257 | Texas Legislature Online
- Talarico’s Gender Mutilation Record Comes Under Fire in Texas Senate Race - Texas Scorecard
- Detransitioner on what she would have asked James Talarico at CNN town hall | Fox News
FAMILY BRIEF The news and network for the American family.
