Alabama

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated Alabama’s court-ordered congressional map on May 11, 2026, during ongoing primary elections. The state will revert to a 2023 map that courts previously struck down as intentional racial discrimination against Black voters.

Alabama’s Supreme Court ruled frozen embryos are legally children. The state refuses Medicaid expansion, losing an estimated $181.6 million in 2026 alone. The prison system’s homicide rate is 600% above the national average.

The 2026 governor’s race is Tommy Tuberville vs. Doug Jones, a rematch of their 2020 Senate contest.

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Voting Rights

The Supreme Court vacated Alabama’s congressional map after its Louisiana v. Callais ruling narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Alabama will use a 2023 map that federal courts had struck down for intentionally discriminating against Black voters. Governor Ivey called a special session to set special primaries for congressional and state senate districts “whose boundary lines are altered by court action.”

A district court also struck down the state senate map as a Voting Rights Act violation. Alabama is drawing new lines while voters are already heading to the polls.

2 maps struck down for discriminating against Black voters (one congressional, one state senate), both being redrawn during an active election year

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Reproductive Rights

Alabama’s near-total abortion ban carries 10 to 99 years or life in prison for providers. There are no exceptions for rape or incest. Alabama is the only ban state with a mental health exception within its broader health exception.

In February 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine that frozen embryos are legally children under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. IVF treatments halted across the state. Nineteen days later, Governor Ivey signed emergency legislation giving IVF providers immunity from lawsuits, but the legislature did not change the underlying legal status of embryos. Corinn O’Brien, head of Fight for Alabama Families, told the Alabama Reflector the protection is “tenuous at best and could be overturned.”

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Healthcare and Benefits

Alabama is one of 10 states that refuse Medicaid expansion. Over 154,800 low-income adults could gain coverage. The state is losing an estimated $181.6 million in 2026 by refusing. Expansion could save $71.8 million before broader economic benefits.

U.S. Representative Shomari Figures is a lead co-sponsor of the COVER Now Act, which would let federal Medicaid officials work directly with counties and cities in states that refuse expansion. Cover Alabama says more than a dozen rural hospitals are at risk of closure. Enhanced ACA marketplace subsidies expired at the end of 2025, increasing premiums for Alabamians buying insurance on Healthcare.gov.

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Public Schools

The CHOOSE Act (signed March 2024) creates refundable tax credits for K-12 students: up to $7,000 per student at participating private schools, $2,000 at non-participating schools, and $4,000 for homeschool. For 2025-26, families earning under 300% FPL ($93,600 for a family of four) are eligible.

The DOJ sued Alabama in December 2020 over unconstitutional prison conditions. Alabama’s prison homicide rate is 600% above the national average. Between 2020 and 2024, 124 lawsuits against ADOC employees resulted in settlements, 94 involving excessive force. ADOC spent $39.7 million on private lawyers defending against the DOJ suit and class-action lawsuits, more than it paid in settlements ($4.4 million).

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2026 Elections in Alabama

Tommy Tuberville won the Republican primary for governor. Doug Jones won the Democratic primary. The November 3 general election is a rematch of their 2020 Senate race, which Tuberville won.

AG Steve Marshall ran for the U.S. Senate seat Tuberville is leaving and finished third in the May 19 Republican primary. Rep. Barry Moore won the June 16 runoff and faces Democrat Everett Wess. As AG, Marshall joined 11 other attorneys general to defend Trump’s executive order on election citizenship checks. He also opened a civil investigation into the SPLC.

The governor’s race decides who appoints judges and chooses whether to expand Medicaid.

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What You Can Do in Alabama

1. Check your voter registration. Alabama is redrawing maps during an active election. Verify your district and polling place at the Secretary of State’s office.

2. Ask governor candidates about Medicaid. Alabama refuses $181.6 million per year. Make Tuberville and Jones say whether they support expansion.

3. Track the IVF immunity law. If you are considering IVF in Alabama, understand that embryos are legally classified as children and the provider protection is temporary. The ACLU of Alabama tracks the case.

4. Know your congressional district. It may change. If you are in a newly redrawn district, verify your representation at legislature.state.al.us.

5. Follow the prison trial. The DOJ lawsuit goes to trial in 2026. The outcome will determine whether the federal government forces Alabama to fix conditions. The Equal Justice Initiative tracks developments.