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James Talarico, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, once swapped out the term “woman” with “pregnant individual” in a bill that would have created protections for abortion in the Lone Star State.
The bill would have prevented “the prosecution of a pregnant individual on whom an abortion is performed or induced” and eliminated any Texas law that would have regulated or prohibited an abortion.
It never made it past consideration in committee.
Despite its stalled progress, the 2023 bill runs counter to Talarico’s efforts to paint himself as sufficiently conservative to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate as he wages an uphill campaign to defeat Republican challenger Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general.
James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, speaks at a campaign event in Round Rock, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I’ve called out the extremes in both parties,” Talarico said in an interview with CBS last month.
When asked about his position on gender and previous comments that there were as many as six sexes, Talarico clarified his stance.
“I know there are two sexes, men and women. I also know there’s a very small percentage of people who have these chromosomal abnormalities and I believe they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”
When asked about the bill, Talarico’s campaign emphasized the abortion-related aspect of the bill, leaving the gender wording unaddressed.
“James agrees with a majority of Texans that women should make decisions about their own bodies. While billionaire-bought politicians like Ken Paxton spread lies to divide Texans, James will continue to stand up against both political parties to fix this broken, corrupt political system and support Texas families,” JT Ennis, a campaign spokesperson, told Fox News Digital.
The bill’s resurfacing coincides with a very similar bill making its way through the New York legislature.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke during a news conference at the WIN NYC family shelter on March 5, 2026, in New York City. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
That bill would “adjust language in the law to a more inclusive and gender-neutral form.” Among other changes, it swaps out the term “mother” for “gestating parent.”
Having cleared the New York General Assembly and the New York Senate, it is poised to receive Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature to become law.
Although Talarico’s bill falls short of similarly reframing the state’s entire legal language, his opponents believe the very attempt to pass a bill using the same kind of terminology is emblematic of someone out of step with Texans’ principles.
“James Talarico’s entire career has been dedicated to replacing the Christian and family values of Texans with his transgender-for-all agenda,” RNC spokesperson Zach Kraft said.
Texas Senate candidate James Talarico urged voters to reduce meat consumption in a 2022 clip that went viral on Tuesday. (Mark Felix/Getty Images)
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“He is a threat to Texans’ way of life and a truly insane individual who has been fully broken by the woke mind virus.”