When a federal bill that would safeguard abortion access from state-level bans and restrictions passed the U.S. House of Representatives in September, it was a historic day in its own right, but especially so given what had happened in Texas just a few weeks prior. The Lone Star State had passed the most draconian abortion restriction in U.S. history. The country was also staring down a Supreme Court case threatening to overturn federal protections to abortion care.

The bill passed along party lines except for one Democrat who voted against the landmark legislation: congressman Henry Cuellar, from Texas 28th district.

This wasnt the first time Cuellar had voted against the reproductive health of millions of American women. Cuellar, a nine-term incumbent, has a long history of voting against pro-choice legislation, and now stands as the last anti-abortion rights Democrat in the House. He regularly supported former President Donald Trump s attacks on the Title X family planning program and was the only Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee in 2021 to support the Hyde Amendment , which bars federal health insurance programs like Medicaid from covering abortions.

But Jessica Cisneros hopes to make anti-abortion Democratic members of Congress an extinct species. The 28-year-old human rights attorney and daughter of Mexican immigrants nearly beat Cuellar in the 2020 primary, losing by less than 3,000 votes, or 4 percentage points, and is challenging him again in the March 1 primary.

Henry Cuellar was an anti-choice Democrat [in 2020], he had taken bad votes and was out of step with his constituents then, said Kristin Ford, vice president of communications and research at NARAL Pro-Choice America. While there was a lot at stake then, nothing compares to how much is at stake now. Particularly in Texas, where we have this bounty-hunting abortion ban that has been in place since Sept. 1, and particularly in the 28th congressional district. Its a really dramatic landscape this time in terms of abortion access and thats a pretty significant development since the last time.