Democrat Who Ran on IVF Just Flipped a Seat in Alabama
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The GOP’s assault on reproductive rights isn’t too popular — not even in Alabama.
Democrat Marilyn Lands won a special election for a state House seat on Tuesday, flipping a district that a Republican had previously controlled. Lands ran largely on reproductive rights, particularly as a proponent of in vitro fertilization in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos created during IVF treatments are people. The ruling sparked nationwide condemnation of the Republican Party’s attacks on reproductive care and led at least one local hospital to shut down IVF treatment over fears of prosecution.
The seat Lands won on Tuesday was up for grabs after Republican state Rep. David Cole resigned before pleading guilty to a voter-fraud charge. Lands’ opposition to the state’s abortion ban was a large part of her campaign, as was the state Supreme Court’s IVF decision last month. “Our legislature must repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception,” Lands said on Tuesday, adding that her victory sends a “clear message” to state legislators.
The Biden campaign agrees. “Tonight’s results should serve as a major warning sign for Trump: Voters will not stand for his attacks on reproductive health care,” campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. “This November will be no different.”
Conservatives have been doing all they can to further crack down on abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The latest front of the battle is the abortion pill mifepristone, with the Supreme Court hearing arguments on Tuesday for a case aimed at restricting access to the most common form of abortion in the U.S. The justices seemed dubious of doing so, but Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas both asked questions about the Comstock Act, an 1873 law that could effectively ban abortion nationwide.
The biggest threat to reproductive rights, however, may be Trump. He’s long bragged about installing the justices that helped overturn Roe and has lately been talking about pushing for a 15-week federal abortion ban should he retake the White House. “The number 15 is mentioned. I haven’t agreed to any number. I’m going to see,” he said in an interview earlier this month. “We want to take an issue that was very polarizing and get it settled and solved so everybody can be happy.”
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