Marilyn Lands, a Democrat, won a special election for an Alabama state House seat late Tuesday, switching a Republican-held seat in the deep-red state following a court judgment that called access to IVF treatments into doubt.
Lands, a mental health counselor, emphasized reproductive rights throughout her campaign. She has spoken frankly about her own abortion when her pregnancy was not viable. And she ran advertising about reproductive health care, including contraception and in vitro fertilization, which are under threat in the state following an Alabama Supreme Court ruling that compared frozen embryos to children and forced major IVF facilities in the state to halt fertility procedures.
In a statement following her victory on Tuesday, Lands stated that Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will resonate in Montgomery and across the nation. “Our legislature must repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.”
Republicans had long held the seat representing Alabama’s 10th district in the state legislature. However, former President Donald Trump won the seat by a small margin in 2020, making it a toss-up that Democrats had targeted. Lands also ran for the seat in 2022 but lost narrowly to her Republican opponent.
Heather Williams, president of Democrats’ legislative campaign arm, described the special election as “the first real test” of how voters would react to Alabama’s IVF ruling and reproductive rights in general, as well as “a harbinger of things to come.”
“Republicans across the country have been put on notice that there are consequences to attacks on IVF—ffrom the bluest blue state to the reddest red, voters are choosing to fight for their fundamental freedoms by electing Democrats across the country,” Williams stated in an e-mail.
Democrats are optimistic about a recurrence of the 2022 midterm elections, where the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and the resulting restrictions in states served as a significant driving force for voters, ultimately thwarting an anticipated red wave. They anticipate that the aftermath of the IVF ruling will reignite the voter base, ensuring that reproductive rights remain a prominent concern leading up to the 2024 election.
