{"id":31988,"date":"2026-05-29T09:31:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=31988"},"modified":"2026-05-29T09:31:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:31:51","slug":"texas-senate-candidate-james-talarico-insists-bible-is-silent-on-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/05\/texas-senate-candidate-james-talarico-insists-bible-is-silent-on-abortion","title":{"rendered":"Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico Insists Bible is ‘silent’ on Abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Jamie Kern Lima \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now that Republicans have nominated former Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton over primary opponent John Cornyn for Texas Senator, they\u2019ve set their sights on his opponent, Democrat James Talarico. Talarico has become something of a rising star amongst Democrats, with Democrats portraying him as a clean cut, outspoken Christian moderate with chances of taking a Senate seat in the very red state of Texas. Republicans are now focusing on Talarico\u2019s past comments about there being six biological sexes, praising his \u201cmeat-free\u201d campaign, and controversial takes on Christian doctrine to show that he\u2019s anything but the moderate that Democrats claim he is.<\/p>\n

Christian conservatives have homed in on recent comments Talarico made during an hours-long interview on the \u201cJamie Kern Lima Show<\/a>.\u201d Lima discussed abortion with Talarico, who has studied theology at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which is affiliated with the mainline Presbyterian Church (USA). Talarico insisted that he trusts women \u201cto make decisions about their own bodies.\u201d \u00a0\u201cI don’t believe that’s a place for government. I don’t believe it’s a place for politicians. I don’t believe it’s a place for the state. And that’s a belief I hold not despite my faith, but because of my faith,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Talarico, who often cites his faith, insisted the Bible is \u201csilent\u201d on the issue of abortion. \u201cJesus never talks about abortion. The Bible is silent on abortion. And when that happens with a social issue as important as abortion, we Christians have to take Scripture as a whole. And we’ve got to try to make some kind of ethical determination,\u201d he said. Texas has some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the country, with a heartbeat law that prohibits abortion even in the case of rape and incest, which has earned the ire of many progressives.<\/p>\n

Talarico\u2019s comment is not the first time he has addressed abortion and his faith. In an interview with Joe Rogan last July, Talarico insisted the Bible is pro-choice<\/a> by citing the angel Gabriel\u2019s announcement to the virgin Mary that she was to be with child. He cited Mary\u2019s response to Gabriel\u2019s announcement, \u201clet it be to me according to your word,\u201d as proof of Mary offering her consent. \u201cTo me, that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent. You cannot force someone to create,\u201d Talarico told Rogan.<\/p>\n

Claiming the Bible is silent on abortion quickly earned Talarico strong rebukes from Christian conservatives, including Franklin Graham. \u201cTexas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico couldn’t be more wrong! The Bible is not silent on abortion as he claims \u2014 that’s an absolute lie. God commands us, ‘You shall not murder’ (Exodus 20:13). Abortion is taking a life \u2014 it is murder,\u201d he wrote on X<\/a>. He went on to cite James 1:5 which states, \u201cBefore I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.\u201d He also cited past comments Talarico had made calling God \u201cnon-binary.\u201d \u201cDon’t be deceived by wicked politicians spouting lies like this,” he said.<\/p>\n

Talarico has begun to back off from some of his more liberal positions, admitting<\/a> he has made some \u201ccringey\u201d comments in the past. \u201cThere are some statements that I\u2019ve made that I certainly regret,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThere are statements that I\u2019ve made where I\u2019ve missed the mark. I\u2019ll be the first to admit that. But Ken Paxton is intentionally clipping my cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption.\u201d He seemed to also back off past assertions he made that science supports six biological sexes, something that has earned him the nickname \u201cSix-gender Jimmy\u201d from opponent Paxton. \u201cI know there are two sexes, men and women. I also know there\u2019s a very small percentage of people who have these chromosomal abnormalities, and I believe they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Conservatives, however, are urging Texans to not fall for Talarico\u2019s rebranding. Conservative Benny Johnson cited a list of some of Talarico\u2019s controversial statements<\/a>, including calling Jesus a \u201cradical feminist,\u201d stating illegal aliens are more patriotic than Americans, and that he loves thinking about trans kids. \u201cNow he’s trying to convince Texas he’s a moderate,\u201d warned Johnson. \u201cHis own words say otherwise. When the devil tells you he\u2019s evil, you best believe him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that Republicans have nominated former Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton over primary opponent John Cornyn for Texas Senator, they\u2019ve set their sights on his opponent, Democrat James Talarico. Talarico has become something of a rising star amongst Democrats, with Democrats portraying him as a clean cut, outspoken Christian moderate with chances of taking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":31991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Senate Candidate James Talarico Insists Bible is 'silent' on Abortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Texas Senate race: Republicans target Democrat James Talarico\u2019s abortion comments and past controversies, challenging his moderate image.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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