State Representative Terri Collins, R-Decatur, announced Monday that she will not seek re-election in 2026, bringing an end to a 16-year career in the state house. Collins represented House District 8, which covers west and northwest Morgan County.
Collins was first elected in 2010 and went on to win three more terms. She currently chairs the House Education Policy Committee and also serves on the Education Ways and Means Committee.
“Serving Morgan County has been the honor of my life,” Collins said in a statement. “But the time has come to step aside and give someone new an opportunity to lead us forward.”
During her tenure, Collins played an important role in shaping both education and social policy in Alabama.
She was the sponsor of the Human Life Protection Act, the 2019 law that created one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation. The statute made performing an abortion a felony in most circumstances and was designed to challenge the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion precedent at the time. After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the law took effect, effectively banning abortion in Alabama except in narrow medical emergencies.
Collins also sponsored the Alabama Literacy Act, which expanded reading instruction, funded literacy coaches and tied third-grade promotion to reading proficiency. Since the law’s passage and implementation, state officials report improvements in early literacy outcomes.
In 2024, she sponsored legislation granting civil and criminal immunity to in-vitro fertilization providers and patients after a state Supreme Court ruling classified frozen embryos as legal persons, prompting many IVF clinics to suspend services temporarily.
Before entering public office, Collins spent 16 years working as a banking executive in Decatur. In her retirement announcement, Collins stated that she was confident the policies she supported had left a lasting impact on the state, particularly in education and family policy.
“I will step out of the public spotlight secure in the knowledge that our efforts have ensured that unborn life is better protected, public education is greatly improved, and parents have more choice in how their children are taught,” said Collins.
Collins credited much of her career success to the support of her late husband, Tom, and said she plans to continue serving her community outside of elected office.
