Democrat Marilyn Lands won Tuesday's special election for the Alabama House of Representatives, advocating for access to abortion and in vitro fertilization and emphasizing the continued political power of reproductive rights.
Lands defeated his Republican challenger, Teddy Powell, by about 25 points, an unusually wide margin in a battleground state where he lost by 7 points in 2022. The special election was called after Republican David Cole, who held the seat, resigned. He resigned and pleaded guilty to voter fraud.
“Today, the women and families of Alabama sent a clear message that will resonate not just in Montgomery but across the nation,” Lands, a licensed counselor, said Tuesday night. “Our Congress must repeal Alabama’s no-exception abortion ban, restore full access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.”
Her election in Alabama's largely suburban 10th Congressional District does not change the balance of power in the state. Republicans still maintain supermajorities in both the House and Senate. And the race was small, with only about 6,000 votes cast.
But this result and the difference between it and the election results that have been building up in the nearly two years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade come at a time when abortion, and now in vitro fertilization, are certainly motivating issues. This adds further evidence that there is. Democrats are counting on abortion rights in 2024 to continue to help them win power in key states.
Alabama prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with exceptions for rape and incest. And last month, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people's rights, and that typically multiple embryos are created but only one is implanted at a time, and leftover embryos are The court handed down a ruling that fundamentally overturns the medical practice of in vitro fertilization, requiring that the embryos be frozen indefinitely or, in some cases, destroyed.
In response to the backlash against the ruling, the Alabama Legislature passed a law, signed by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey, granting criminal and civil immunity to IVF clinics. He did not mention the legal status of the fetus.
During his campaign, Republican candidate Powell avoided mentioning abortion and in vitro fertilization, instead focusing on issues such as education and local infrastructure. This strategy, also adopted by many national candidates over the past two years, appears to have been ineffective.
Heather Williams, chair of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to the state Legislature, said Lands' victory was “a harbinger of things to come.”
“Republicans across the country have been told that attacks on IVF will have consequences,” Williams said.
President Biden's re-election campaign, which also plans to focus on abortion, also highlighted the results, calling it a “major red flag” for former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump, who appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe, has indicated he is likely to support a federal 15-week abortion ban.
“Voters will not tolerate his attacks on reproductive health,” Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Biden's campaign manager, said in a statement.