• Press Release

EMILYs List Statement on New Ad’s False Claims on Henry Cuellar’s Anti-Choice Record

May 13, 2022

For Immediate Release
May 13, 2022

EMILYs List Statement on New Ad’s False Claims on Henry Cuellar’s Anti-Choice Record

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, released a statement on Henry Cuellar’s record on abortion, following a TV ad’s claims that misrepresent Henry Cuellar’s views on abortion. The ad claims that Henry Cuellar has “made it clear that he opposes a ban on abortion,” despite the fact that Cuellar has consistently voted for extreme abortion bans and was the lone Democrat to vote against the Women’s Health Protection Act. Laphonza Butler, president of EMILYs List, responded with the following statement:

“No matter what this ad says, Henry Cuellar’s record on abortion rights is clear: he will advance his anti-choice views at the expense of our health, futures, and bodily autonomy. In fact, he was the only Democrat in the House of Representatives to vote against the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified Roe v. Wade in advance of the Supreme Court's impending decision to overturn the precedent. Cuellar had the option to defend reproductive freedom at the federal level at a time when his fellow Texans cannot realize their constitutional right to an abortion, and instead chose to throw his support behind S.B. 8 and other abortion bans like it. He has voted for several abortion bans. Cuellar’s true position on choice is both unpopular and indefensible.”

Henry Cuellar’s anti-choice voting record includes:

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $700 million to elect Democratic pro-choice women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting and helping build strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, running nearly $50 million in independent expenditures in the last cycle alone, and turning out women voters and voters of color to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect the country's first woman as vice president, 159 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and more than 1,300 women to state and local office. More than 40% of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. After the 2016 election, more than 60,000 women reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state, and national offices. In our effort to elect more women in offices across the country, we have created our Run to Win program, expanded our training program, including a Training Center online, and trained thousands of women.