Texas Bishops Reaffirm Pro-Life Agenda After Dem Sweep
They congratulated Democratic statewide winners and urged policies defending life, family, and human dignity as the 90th session approaches.
On November 5, 2026, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops congratulated Democrats who won every major statewide office in Tuesday’s midterm elections and gained a majority in the Texas House of Representatives. The bishops said they are praying “that God grants them wisdom as they take on the responsibilities of public office.”
They reiterated their previously finalized agenda for the 90th Texas Legislative Session. “As we look ahead to the 90th Texas Legislative Session, the principles of Catholic social and moral teaching that guide our work remain unchanged,” the bishops wrote. They pledged to advocate for policies that “uphold human dignity, strengthen families, care for the vulnerable and creation, and promote the common good.”
Life, Family, and the Common Good
The agenda states: “Human life is intrinsically valuable and should be protected by law from conception, which happens at fertilization, to natural death. Moreover, the natural family is the sanctuary of life in which parents teach children how they ought to live.”
Specific positions include support for funding abortion alternatives and assistance for parents, including kinship, foster, and adoptive families; opposition to euthanasia, in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy; opposition to “the advancement of gender ideology, especially in places where young people are affected.” It also calls for safeguards for “the inviolable dignity of the human person through the ethical development of artificial intelligence (AI),” and for reasonable steps to address gun-related violence. The bishops said they continue to oppose “efforts to weaken the protection of unborn human life.”
The reaffirmation comes as the incoming Democratic administration is expected to pursue measures expanding abortion access. Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson has said he will not continue outgoing Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuits against out-of-state providers who mailed abortion pills into Texas. Johnson said he will respect other states’ shield laws but will not enforce Texas’ pro-life laws. Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. Republicans retained control of the Texas Senate, which some pro-life advocates view as a potential check on legislative changes.
Call to Unity After a Bruising Campaign
Separately, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio issued a postelection statement recalling the U.S. bishops’ preelection call to place faith before politics. He noted that Pope Leo XIV cast a mail-in ballot from the Vatican and urged that “all remain actively engaged in civic life.” He called for unity, writing: “We do not need more division after a particularly bruising campaign season.”
The bishops’ message frames public office as a responsibility ordered to the dignity of the human person and the common good, consistent with the Church’s constant teaching on life and the family, even as the political balance in Austin shifts.