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Candidate for U.S. Congress is shown giving birth in new campaign ad

Katie Darling is running for a House seat to preserve reproductive rights in Louisiana.
Candidate for Congress runs ad featuring footage of her giving birth
While running for a U.S. Congress seat, mom Katie Darling released a highly personal campaign ad.Katie Darling For Louisiana via Youtube
/ Source: TODAY

A Louisiana mom running for U.S. Congress gives birth in a new campaign ad to oppose her state's tough abortion laws. 

In the ad released on Oct. 3 by Katie Darling, 36, who is running against Congressman Steve Scalise, she calls Louisiana's abortion ban "one of the strictest and most severe in the country."

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion as a constitutional right, Louisiana was among more than a dozen states that banned abortion. The state made some exceptions for medical emergencies and for instances when an unborn fetus is deemed "medically futile" as determined by a list of more than 20 diseases and disorders. The state can prosecute medical professionals for providing abortions.

Related: Is abortion a parenting issue? Yes — here's why

Darling's ad shows her pregnant at her family farm in St. Tammany Parish. "My husband and daughter help take care of the chickens, and there's someone else who's going to be joining us and helping to pitch in with farm life very soon," she says as the camera angles toward her pregnant belly.

"We should be putting pregnant women at ease, not putting their lives at risk," Darling continues in the video as she's wheeled down a hospital hallway, then shown laboring in a hospital bed.

"Louisiana deserves better than the path we're on," she concludes. "I'm Katie Darling and I'm running for Congress because I want that better path. For you, for her — and for him."

In the last scene, Darling holds her newborn son.

Darling told TODAY Parents that she launched her congressional campaign while seven months pregnant, shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022.

"I had a high-risk pregnancy and was terrified about what could happen to me," she said. "My first reaction was, 'I want to move.' My second reaction was realizing (that) if we don't protect reproductive rights, eventually there will be nowhere to move."

"I want to protect folks on a federal level," Darling added.

A spokesperson for Congressman Scalise did not immediately return TODAY Parents’ request for comment.

Related: Her pregnancy won't survive, and she can't get an abortion: A heartbroken mom speaks out

A self-professed “open book,” Darling said it wasn't a stretch for her to share intimate scenes from her labor and delivery.

"I am grateful for my medical care but I've heard countless stories from people with pregnancy complications who would have died without care that is now banned," she explained.

The viral ad stands out because of its highly personal nature, noted Lynn Vavreck, a professor of American politics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

It also accomplishes one of two common goals in a political race.

"The ad has potential to generate attention, increase name recognition and encourage donations," Vavreck told TODAY Parents. "However, persuading others to understand a point of view is harder."

Most candidates do not assume they can simply change people's minds — "especially on social or identity issues," Vavreck noted. "People often form (those belief systems) from a young age."

Darling, whose son is 3 weeks old, said, "I can have a beautiful family because of these rights. People should make these decisions for themselves."

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