Marilyn Lands won a special election in Alabama on Tuesday for a state House seat in what Democrats say is a "clear message on reproductive rights and health care access."
Lands, who made abortion rights and the recent IVF ruling in her state the focus of her campaign, defeated Republican Teddy Powell by a margin of 67 percent to 32 percent in the 10th District.
“Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation,” Lands said in a statement. “Our legislature must repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.”
Lands even made her own abortion story into an ad during the campaign.
I’m sharing my abortion story because Alabama's no exceptions abortion ban is putting lives at risk. We must repeal this legislation, and if I'm elected on March 26th, I'll work tirelessly to do just that.
— Marilyn Lands (@MarilynForAL) February 20, 2024
Learn more at https://t.co/VQKTW9Ivob pic.twitter.com/n7fZDB2Eqx
While the win won't have much of an impact in Montgomery, Democrats saw the election as a bellwether on abortion and IVF ahead of the November elections.
Yet her election hardly tips the scales in Montgomery: Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers of the Legislature and use that power to pursue a conservative agenda backed by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and other GOP state officials.
When the state Supreme Court ruled last month that embryos are children under state law and suspended the practice of IVF, it set off a political firestorm that some Republicans fear could threaten their standing in the November elections. Republican leadership in the state legislature raced to pass a law granting immunity to IVF providers and patients in the days following the decision.
But Lands’ victory signals abortion can turn out voters even in a deep-red state. (Politico)
“This special election is a harbinger of things to come – Republicans across the country have been put on notice that there are consequences to attacks on IVF – from the bluest blue state to the reddest red, voters are choosing to fight for their fundamental freedoms by electing Democrats across the country,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams in a statement.