Democrats tout win Tuesday in Alabama House as sign abortion rights still winning message in 2024

Democrats are touting a special election victory Tuesday night in the Alabama legislature as another sign that an abortion-rights platform remains a wining message in 2024.

"Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation," Democrat candidate Marilyn Lands said after winning a state House seat. "Our legislature must repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.”

The Supreme Court two years ago effectively overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that provided federal protections for women seeking abortion. The ruling also turned over such authority to states. 

Alabama is among nearly two dozen Republican-controlled states have taken advantage of the ruling to impose new restrictions on abortion, curtailing access to the procedure for tens of millions of women, according to Reuters.

More recently, the Alabama Supreme Court last month, made a ruling that put a temporarily halted IVF treatments at the state's largest hospital. 

While conservatives, including anti-abortion advocates, hailed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling as a major victory, it appears to have turned into a political liability for Republicans.

Voter backlash was widely considered a major factor in limiting Republican gains in the 2022 congressional midterm elections and propelling Democrats to victories last month in Virginia and Kentucky.

Minnesota Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Wednesday celebrated Lands during an MSNBC interview. 

“Race after race after race” has shown that no matter the party affiliation, voters are “siding with the Democratic Party and Joe Biden's support for freedom. They do not want to go back to the chaos,” she said, according to The Hill.