A Texas pro-life Democrat questioned U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week after she demanded that Democrats conform to the party’s radical pro-abortion agenda.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar is the only pro-life Democrat in the U.S. House. He recently defeated a pro-abortion challenger, who was endorsed by Ocasio-Cortez, in the Texas primary election.
“Who is she to decide what’s the standard of being a real Democrat?” Cuellar responded in an interview Friday, the Washington Examiner reports. “If you look at what we do as members of Congress, we represent a district — she represents her district. I represent my district — and that’s the way it should be.”
However, Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, suggested Sunday that lawmakers like Cuellar should be kicked out of the party if they do not conform to its pro-abortion goals. The Democratic Party platform supports unlimited abortion on demand and calls for forcing taxpayers to pay for elective abortions.
In a video Sunday on Instagram, Ocasio-Cortez told her followers: “Because, the thing that a lot of people don’t like to talk about is the fact that not every Democrat is pro-choice. OK? So, the ones that aren’t, we really need to reassess if it’s appropriate for them to continue to serve in 2022 because people should have the right to control their own body,” according to the Examiner.
HELP LIFENEWS SAVE BABIES FROM ABORTION! Please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
Cuellar said he realizes that abortion is a divisive and controversial issue, but truly progressive politicians should be open to different ideas.
“I would ask her to look up the definition of a progressive in the dictionary,” he responded. “It says that a progressive is one that’s open to new ideas. The only thing wrong with some of these new progressives is that they’re not open to the new ideas. They’re only open to their ideas.”
Cuellar represents a moderate, primarily Hispanic district in Texas, and his voting record is consistent with most Americans’ views on abortion.
In September, he was the lone House Democrat who voted against a radical pro-abortion bill that would force states to legalize abortions for basically any reason up to birth. Cuellar also supports the Hyde Amendment, which bans taxpayer funding for elective abortions in Medicaid and other federal programs.
Both positions represent most Americans’ views on these matters. A 2021 Marist poll found 58 percent of Americans oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in the U.S. Additionally, 77 percent oppose using tax dollars to fund abortions in other countries. A 2016 Harvard/Politico poll found that most voters, including a strong majority of low-income voters, oppose taxpayer-funded abortions.
Recent polls also show public support for greater legal protections for unborn babies, such as heartbeat laws and bans on abortion after the first trimester.
“I am an American, Texan, then a Democrat – in that order – and I will continue to fight for Texas values and not let coastal elites bring their failed agenda to our communities,” Cuellar said after he won the May primary.
