James Talarico already claimed the Bible never once mentions abortion.
Now the pro-abortion Senate candidate says Mary's consent to the Angel Gabriel proves abortion is godly.
Pro-life students showed up outside his campaign rally to answer him.
Pro-Life Students Confront Talarico Outside His Baylor Rally
Roughly 60 pro-life advocates converged on Baylor University's Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center.
That is where Talarico held his rally, a Baylor-only event closed to the public and limited to students, faculty, and staff.
Talarico's campaign gave only about a week's public notice before the Sept. 17 rally.
He hopes to unseat pro-life Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate seat on Nov. 3.
John Pisciotta, a former Baylor economics professor who now leads Pro-Life Waco, pulled together a mix of current Baylor students, members of the campus group Bears for Life, and veteran activists from the region.
Bears for Life Vice President Payton Carey said the group wanted to speak for the unborn.
"God created each and every one of us intentionally; our conception is not an accident," Carey said.
Passing motorists left little doubt where Waco stands.
One group's count of driver reactions came to 138 thumbs-up against just 20 negative responses.
Bears for Life President Makenzie Lampshire, a Baylor sophomore, called the protest a natural response to hosting a pro-abortion candidate on a Christian campus.
The demonstration also produced what organizers called a "media multiplier."
Eight Baylor students interviewed protesters for class assignments on the controversy, and the student-run Baylor Lariat covered the demonstration after Pro-Life Waco sent out a news release.
Talarico Claims the Bible Never Even Mentions Abortion
Talarico has built part of his campaign on the claim that his pro-abortion politics are compatible with his Christian faith.
He argues the Bible never uses the word abortion and is therefore "silent" on the subject.
He has gone further, framing the Angel Gabriel's appearance to Mary in Luke 1 as proof that "creation has to be done with consent."
Talarico has also said that after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, Americans "became the property of the State," calling that outcome un-Christian.
Back in 2021, as a Texas state representative, Talarico told colleagues that "God is non-binary."
Evangelist Franklin Graham rejected Talarico's biblical case outright, calling it "an absolute lie."
"Abortion is taking a life – it is murder," Graham said, citing Exodus 20:13's command not to murder.
Graham also pointed to Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalm 139:13, both of which describe God forming children in the womb.
Students for Life of America president Kristan Hawkins accused Talarico of "spiritual gaslighting."
Hawkins said the Bible is explicit that God commanded against killing innocent people and personally knit them together in the womb.
National Review's Caroline Downey put it more bluntly.
"The way that this man twists Christianity to suit progressivism is mind-boggling," Downey said.
"He just boils it down to 'love thy neighbor,'" she said.
Baylor Blocked Pro-Life Students' Free Speech to Protect Talarico's Rally
Baylor Police kept protesters off the university-owned Dutton Avenue sidewalk, turning away even enrolled Baylor students who tried to demonstrate there.
The group then held its ground on the public sidewalk along University Parks Drive instead.
Students for Life regional coordinator Megan Roos said that never should have been necessary.
"I was dismayed that Baylor did not allow our university-approved pro-life group to exercise free speech rights on a sidewalk owned by their university," Roos said.
She said the group "relocated to the public right-of-way along a city-owned street, where our spirited defense of life received an enthusiastic response."
The Poll Numbers Reveal Exactly Who Talarico's Bible Argument Targets
This isn't some fringe candidate saying these things.
Emerson College Polling had Talarico at 46 percent to Paxton's 47 percent in August, a dead heat for a United States Senate seat.
That same poll found voters over 50 breaking for Paxton by 11 points.
Voters your age already see through this.
It's the under-50 crowd breaking for Talarico by 15 points, the same demographic he's courting with verses like Luke 1.
Other Democrats have run this exact play before.
Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten used the same move on Jeremiah 1:5 back in 2023, arguing the verse was about "the mother's womb" rather than government, all while voting against protecting infants born alive after failed abortions.
Democrats have learned that quoting Scripture sells better than admitting what the policy actually does.
None of this is just talk in Waco.
Care Net Pregnancy Center of Central Texas offers free ultrasounds, options counseling, diapers, formula, and even rental assistance to pregnant women and new parents in the same city where Talarico held his rally.
Students for Life runs its own Standing With You program nationwide, helping pregnant and parenting students stay in school instead of choosing between their child and their education.
Sixty pro-life advocates showed up outside Talarico's rally to prove that quoting Scripture doesn't make his abortion politics any less deadly.
Sources:
- Steven Ertelt, "Pro-Life Advocates Protest Radical Pro-Abortion Candidate James Talarico," LifeNews.com, Sep. 21, 2026.
- Peter Pinedo and Paul Steinhauser, "'God Is Non-Binary': Texas Dem Nominee Talarico's Past Remarks on Abortion, Race and Gender Draw Scrutiny," Fox News, Mar. 5, 2026.
- Rachel del Guidice, "Texas Dem Nominee James Talarico Invokes Faith to Defend Abortion Rights, 'The Bible Is Silent on Abortion,'" Fox News, May 26, 2026.
- Ashlynn Green, "Texas Democrat James Talarico Uses the Bible to Defend Abortion in Senate Run," Texas Right to Life, Mar. 4, 2026.
- Samantha Kamman, "Democrat Cites Jeremiah 1:5 to Defend Abortion: 'It Doesn't Say the Government's Womb,'" The Christian Post, Jan. 13, 2023.
- Caroline Downey, "James Talarico Cites His Christianity in Service of Trendy Progressive Positions," National Review, Mar. 9, 2026.
- Emerson College Polling, "Texas 2026 Poll: Paxton and Talarico Deadlocked in U.S. Senate Race," Aug. 13, 2026.
- "About Us," Care Net Pregnancy Center of Central Texas, carenetcentraltexas.com.
- "Standing With You," Students for Life of America, standingwithyou.org.
