Democrats invite women affected by abortion and IVF rulings to Biden’s State of the Union
Democrats are putting reproductive rights front-and-center at the State of the Union, inviting guests affected by Alabama's IVF ruling and the Supreme Court's decision to overturn abortion rights.
WASHINGTON — Democrats are putting reproductive rights front and center at the State of the Union on Thursday night, inviting guests affected by the Supreme Court’s reversal of federal abortion protections and Alabama’s controversial court ruling on in vitro fertilization last month.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., will bring with him the nation’s first IVF baby, Elizabeth Carr, who was born in 1981. “I was aware of her story after the Alabama decision,” Kaine told NBC News on Wednesday. “I saw an interview first where she said, ‘I feel like an endangered species.’ And that made me say let’s reach out and see if she’ll come to the State of Union. And I’m very, very glad she is.”
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House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., has invited Jodi Hicks, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, as his guest. Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the Democratic whip, is bringing a Texas woman, Amanda Zurawski, who was denied urgently needed abortion care in Texas. Rep. Judy Chu of California will be joined by Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an OB-GYN who came under fire for speaking out about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old girl who had been raped.
And a trio of Senate Democratic women, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and President Pro Tempore Patty Murray of Washington, also invited women directly affected by the landscape of patchwork reproductive laws across the country.
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