I first became aware of James Talarico in the 2026 midterm election when he was running for a seat in the U.S. Senate against Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General. Paxton is notorious in the abortion fight because of the apparent glee he takes in enforcing his state's cruel abortion ban, responsible for the deaths of five women whose stories I tell in this project, and surely the deaths of many more whose names we don't know.
Tierra Walker’s son dialed 911 when he found her dead on his 15th birthday in Texas. In September 2026, Tierra’s family sued Ken Paxton and others. See Vol. 7.
When I began to follow Talarico, I was impressed and moved by his intelligence, his eloquence, and by how his Christian faith informs his values and therefore his political beliefs, including his pro-choice position.
While I don't consider myself a Christian in any traditional sense, I certainly find compelling the version of Christianity that people like Talarico espouse, the version that emphasizes that it is our duty to care for our neighbors, as Talarico always puts it. That we are to feed the poor, care for the sick, and welcome the stranger. I feel it is my duty to care about the well-being of the living person who is pregnant. And above all I should respect her ethical autonomy. Although pro-choice people often speak of the bodily autonomy of the pregnant person, I am also concerned about their ethical autonomy. To say that the state knows better than the pregnant woman what she should do is profoundly paternalistic and disturbing.
In the meantime, I count down to the midterm elections and pray (!) for a blue wave. And if it does not come, I will take solace in Talarico's words when asked by a reporter whether, if he loses, it will mean that Big Money ruled, since so many Republican organizations and billionaires are pouring money into the Texas race. Talarico said: "Big money is powerful, and I'm not going to sugercoat it, but my faith teaches me that it is nothing compared to people power. And when we put our faith in our neighbors and our collective ability to make change, that will one day pay off. It may not happen tomorrow, it may not happen on Nov. 3, it may not happen in our lifetimes, but faith means living a larger story. And so we're going to keep running that relay race, and we'll pass it off to the folks who come after us, and one day we will win."
This sentiment fuels Living and Dying Under Dobbs. Abortion may not become legal again nation-wide in my lifetime, but this project is driven by my faith in the larger story of feminism. And someday we will win.
Sewing stars on a suffrage flag (Library of Congress)