Democratic female candidates are opting for a new political strategy: sharing their personal abortion stories.
Marilyn Lands’ bid to represent a state House district in North Alabama was all about reproductive rights — and she spoke openly about a non-viable pregnancy that ended in abortion. The Democrat shocked even her own supporters when she crushed her Republican opponent by as much as 25 points in a special election on Tuesday.
It was a gamble in a staunchly conservative state that paid off.
Lands is just one of a growing number of women in legislatures from Arizona to Georgia who are choosing to speak openly about their own abortion experiences. It’s an emotional decision that they say helps shape the abortion debate on a personal level and drives voters to the polls. It also marks a major shift in public consciousness, as more women, including politicians, feel comfortable talking about a procedure that has often been kept secret.
Democrats have capitalized on the Supreme Court’s unpopular 2022 ruling that struck down abortion rights, winning referendums restoring reproductive rights even in deep-red states and focusing on the issue to boost campaigns. Now they’re going one step further by speaking directly about their own experiences.
“I never really had any doubts about whether or not I should share the story,” Lands said in an interview. “It just felt like the right thing to do at the moment.”
Last week, Arizona Rep. Eva Burch went viral for speaking on the floor of the State House about the obstacles she faced in ending a pregnancy.
“Any time you make something personal, it resonates,” Heather Williams, chairwoman of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said in an interview. “The stories are authentic and that is very meaningful.”
The Alabama elections underscore Democrats’ success since the midterm elections campaigning for abortion access — and party leaders are hopeful that Lands’ victory opens a new frontier in the fight to gain ground in states where the Republican Party dominates . Lands ran for the seat in 2022 and lost by seven points.
“It can clearly be an effective tactic,” said Alex Conant, a veteran Republican strategist. “It’s a way to ensure that abortion is a top priority for voters, while being core to either candidate’s identity.”
Still, Conant cautioned against reading too much into a special election where turnout was minuscule. According to the latest unofficial election results, only 5,965 votes were cast in the district that includes parts of Huntsville and Madison, making up less than 2 percent of the electorate. District residents are younger, better educated and earn more money than the rest of the state.
Lands also acknowledges that her election does little to tip the balance of power in Montgomery, where Republicans have a supermajority in both chambers of the Legislature and hold every statewide office. But she says Tuesday’s results show voters are ready for new representation in the capital.
Alabama’s abortion ban — which bans the procedure at any stage and provides no exceptions for rape or incest — is unpopular. And a recent Supreme Court ruling temporarily banning IVF had some Republicans spooked in November about the potential consequences. Republicans rushed to pass a law protecting health care providers and patients from the court’s ruling that fertilized embryos are considered children under state law.
In Arizona, Burch said in a speech in the House of Representatives that during an appointment, state law required an ultrasound that her doctor had not ordered and that she was given misinformation about alternatives to abortion.
“I want people to have a better understanding of what abortion looks like and the role it plays in health care,” Burch said in an interview. “I want to help remove the stigma associated with abortion so we can have honest conversations about the role of government in this type of decision-making.”
It is not the first time that Burch, a nurse who worked at a women’s clinic, has spoken about her abortion experiences. In her 2022 campaign, the Mesa-area Democrat discussed an abortion she got because that pregnancy was also unviable.
Georgia Rep. Shea Roberts was motivated to run for office again when Georgia passed abortion restrictions in 2019. She first tried to represent her suburban Atlanta district in 2018, but lost by 1,200 votes. She then won in 2022.
Until then, Roberts had kept quiet about an abortion she had many years earlier after a pregnancy was determined to be unviable due to a chromosomal disorder. But the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization The Supreme Court’s decision left her desperate and she wanted to reach out to people who disagreed with her views on reproductive rights.
“Telling my story, even though it has been very difficult to share such a painful and intimate part of my life, has helped me connect with women across the state,” Roberts said. “It helped me heal. It helped me shed that shame and it helped me find a voice that I will continue to use until we restore reproductive freedom here in Georgia.”
Georgia Democrats say they are well positioned to threaten the Republican Party’s majority in the state House. But Democrats need a lot to do well on election night: They need to flip 12 seats to win control. Still, candidate recruitment has increased since 2022, and redistricting has created five new Black-majority districts that Democrats say are all but guaranteed to attract.
Roberts said Alabama has mounted Democratic campaigns to further unify around abortion access.
“It’s all on the table now,” Roberts said.
Alice Miranda Ollstein contributed to this report.