By Moira Warburton and Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Courtroom’s leaked draft opinion has injected new urgency right into a Texas main that pits the Home of Representatives’ lone anti-abortion Democrat towards an advocate of abortion rights.

Progressive Democratic challenger Jessica Cisneros on Wednesday known as on prime Home Democrats to drop their help for Consultant Henry Cuellar, an 18-year-incumbent, over his anti-abortion stance, forward of a Could 24 runoff main.

The draft confirmed the courtroom may very well be able to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade determination that legalized abortion nationwide, and the leak despatched Cuellar scrambling to sq. his place along with his get together.

“With the Home majority on the road, he may very a lot be the deciding vote on the way forward for our reproductive rights and we can not afford to take that threat,” Cisneros, a 28-year-old immigration legal professional, stated in a press launch on Wednesday.

Democrats, together with Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Home Whip James Clyburn and Majority Chief Steny Hoyer have endorsed and stood by Cuellar, who represents a reasonable district in south Texas that features components of San Antonio and areas bordering Mexico.

“As a Catholic, I don’t help abortion, nonetheless we can not have an outright ban,” Cuellar stated in a press release on Tuesday night.

Cuellar, 66, was the one Home Democrat to vote towards the Ladies’s Well being Safety Act in 2021, which might have prohibited authorities restrictions on entry to abortion.

Pelosi stated in March that she helps Cuellar and all Democratic incumbents “from proper to left. That’s what I do.” Her workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Wednesday.

Clyburn was attending a Cuellar marketing campaign occasion on Wednesday. His workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark. A Hoyer spokesperson didn’t remark instantly on Cuellar.

Nationwide, 63% of voters say they help candidates who oppose banning abortion, in line with a Reuters/Ipsos ballot on Tuesday.

A Cisneros victory over Cuellar within the main may threaten the get together’s maintain on the seat within the Nov. 8 common election. Democrats are already involved about Democratic President Joe Biden’s low approval rankings amid voter worries about inflation, COVID and immigration.

The first outcome might also be seen as a sign about how abortion politics may play out nationally in November. The Supreme Courtroom leak may flip Texas Democrats towards Cuellar, given his opposition to abortion.

“When you begin saying that what’s at stake shouldn’t be limits on abortion however whether or not girls ought to have entry to abortion … there isn’t any grey areas right here,” stated James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Challenge on the College of Texas in Austin.

Even in a district that tends to be extra reasonable than the remainder of the Democratic Celebration, the doable overturning of Roe “provides Cisneros one thing to speak about that Henry Cuellar does not have a lot room to cover on.”