Texas Christians fought for years to end abortion in their state.
James Talarico wants their vote for U.S. Senate anyway.
He just told them their own Bible has nothing to say about it.
Talarico Says The Bible Is Silent On Abortion
James Talarico is a Presbyterian seminarian running to represent Texas in the United States Senate.
He is also the Democrat who told voters flatly: "Jesus never talks about abortion. The Bible is silent on abortion."
Talarico made the claim in a May 2026 interview, arguing that Texans should trust him with their vote precisely because of his faith, not despite it.
He has made variations of this argument for more than a year on his way to a Senate campaign against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
He has argued that Texas laws requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms amount to religious indoctrination.
He once reduced women affected by the reversal of Roe to a clinical, gender-neutral label instead of the word women.
He has also described himself in the past as a believer who despises the faith he claims to practice.
Every one of those comments came from a man asking pro-life Texans to send him to Washington.
Talarico leans hard on Texas's ban having no exception for rape or incest whenever pro-life Christians push back on him.
He rarely mentions that Texas law already protects the life of the mother, or that state lawmakers set aside more than $200 million for pregnancy centers and family support through the Thriving Texas Families program.
He would rather talk about hard cases than about the child in the womb.
Franklin Graham Rebukes Talarico's Abortion Claim
Franklin Graham was not buying any of it.
The Samaritan's Purse CEO tore into Talarico's silent-on-abortion claim on May 29, 2026.
He pointed straight to the Sixth Commandment and to Jeremiah 1:5, where God tells the prophet He knew him before he was ever formed in the womb.
"The Bible is not silent on abortion as he claims – that's an absolute lie," Graham said.
Live Action founder Lila Rose was just as direct.
"It is sick and shameful to use Jesus Christ as an excuse," Rose wrote, condemning Talarico's attempt to justify his abortion position through faith.
Neither of them is wrong.
A Presbyterian seminarian who has spent years studying Scripture for a career in ministry knows exactly what Exodus 20:13 says.
He is choosing which parts of Scripture to represent to voters and which parts to bury.
Talarico Leads Paxton In Texas Senate Race
Texas has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since 1988.
Talarico is closer than any Democrat has come in a generation.
He leads Paxton by 1.2 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics polling average as of Aug. 25, 2026.
That is the part that should worry every pro-life family in Texas.
This is not a city council candidate with no chance of winning.
This is a man who could cast votes on federal abortion policy, judicial nominations, and religious liberty protections for the next six years.
His entire pitch to swing voters rests on convincing them his faith and his abortion position can coexist.
Franklin Graham just told millions of Christians that pitch is a lie.
Lila Rose told the pro-life movement the same thing.
Talarico can dismiss Republican attacks as politics as usual.
He cannot dismiss Scripture the same way.
Franklin Graham and Lila Rose aren't Paxton campaign surrogates.
They are Christian leaders who watched a fellow believer misuse the faith to defend a political position, and said so publicly.
Pro-life Texans didn't spend decades in the pews and outside abortion clinics to be told the Bible has nothing to say about the child they were praying for.
James Talarico wants Texans to trust him with a seat in the United States Senate.
He can start by explaining to the mothers and fathers of Texas why he thinks his own faith goes silent exactly where an unborn child's life is on the line.
Sources:
- Steven Ertelt, "Franklin Graham Rebukes James Talarico: The Bible Is Not Silent on Abortion," LifeNews.com, May 29, 2026.
- Live Action Staff, "Pro-Lifers Hit Back Against James Talarico's Claim That the Bible Justifies Abortion," Live Action, June 5, 2026.
- Daily Signal Staff, "Texas Saved Baby Gabriel: What Would Talarico Do?," The Daily Signal, August 19, 2026.
- Emma Colton, "Texas Dem Who Said God Is 'Nonbinary' Now Says Atheists Are More 'Christ-Like' Than Christian Colleagues," Fox News, January 31, 2026.
- Daily Wire Staff, "The Audio That's Blowing a Hole in Talarico's Christian Persona," The Daily Wire, June 23, 2026.
- RealClearPolitics, "2026 Texas Senate – Paxton vs. Talarico," RealClearPolling.com, accessed August 25, 2026.
- Live Action Staff, "Texas House Approves Tens of Millions More in Funding for Life-Affirming Program," Live Action, April 11, 2025.
