Alabama underscores abortion threat to Republican election hopes

When a Democrat ousted Republicans from a district in deeply conservative Alabama this week, she won hearts and minds with a pitch about repealing the state's no-exceptions abortion ban and protecting reproductive rights.

Marilyn Lands's triumph was the first major test of public reaction to a court ruling that halted in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the state -- and the latest demonstration of the threat the issue poses to the Grand Old Party (GOP).

Democrats framed the vote as a sign...