GOP strategist predicts Alabama IVF ruling will hurt Republicans 'badly' in 2024 election

Firebrand author Ann Coulter, a self-described "pro-life conservative," has vehemently criticized some of the anti-abortion laws passed in red states following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling of 2022 — laws that, Coulter argues, are going too far and hurting the Republican Party in elections.

Coulter, who applauded the overturning of Roe v. Wade, recently told "Real Time" host Bill Maher that Republicans are "getting slaughtered" at the polls. And she isn't the only person on the right who believes that the anti-abortion movement is overreaching.

On Tuesday, February 20, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children and that harming those embryos in any way — even by accident — is punishable under the state's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. Conservative political consultant Stan Barnes — who formerly served as a GOP state senator in Arizona — fears this ruling will hurt Republicans in November.

READ MORE: 'We’re getting slaughtered': Ann Coulter rips religious 'zealots' for sinking GOP

Barnes told Politico's Alice Miranda Ollstein, "It certainly intersects badly with general election politics for Republicans. When a state, any state, takes an aggressive action on this particular topic, people are once again made aware of it and many think, 'Maybe I can't support a Republican in the general election.'"

In response to the Alabama ruling, the state's largest hospital has ceased in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments.

Reporting for Politico Playbook on February 22, journalists Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels and Ryan Lizza note that "the issue is already rearing its head on the campaign trail" and that GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley told NBC News she agrees with the Alabama ruling — saying, "Embryos, to me, are babies."

"Democrats, meanwhile, are on the attack," the Politico reporters observe. "(Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) spokesperson Nebeyatt Betre told Playbook that voters are 'tired of Republicans' dangerous and blatantly anti-woman agenda,' and vowed that House Democratic candidates will 'make sure to continue holding Republicans accountable for their disastrous impact on women's rights.'"

READ MORE: Nikki Haley: Frozen embryos are 'babies'

Read the full Politico Playbook column at this link.