A woman whose IVF was canceled, the sister of a Uvalde school shooting, a woman forced to leave the state because of Texas’ abortion ban, the Swedish prime minister and a civil rights activist who marched on Bloody Sunday are among the guests who will do that. Join First Lady Jill Biden to watch President Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday evening.
Twenty guests will join Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff in the viewing box as the president delivers his prime time address on Capitol Hill.
The White House said the guests were invited from across the country because they personify issues or themes in the president’s speech or “embody the Biden-Harris administration’s policies that work for the American people.”
Among the guests is Latorya Beasley from Birmingham, Alabama. She and her husband were trying to expand their family when her in vitro fertilization (IVF) process was abruptly canceled in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s controversial ruling that embryos are children.
Kate Cox asked the court for an order to let her have an abortion in Texas, but had to leave the state to get care
The bombshell decision that forced families across the state into limbo as clinics halted treatments is expected to take center stage in the president’s speech, along with abortion access, as the White House turns to Republicans on the issue aim, which has proven to be a motivating factor. strength for the Democrats in an election year.
Kate Cox, mother of two, also joins the First Lady. She spoke publicly about her experience getting care after Texas banned abortion. She sought a court order for an abortion after it was determined that the fetus had a genetic condition and would not survive and that her life was in danger. Ultimately, she had to leave the state to have an emergency abortion.
Also in the guest box is Jazmin Cazares whose sister, 9-year-old Jackie, was killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Cazares has traveled across the country speaking out for gun violence prevention, including joining other March for Our Lives leaders at the Texas State Capitol.
Jazmin Cazares (left) will attend the State of the Union as a guest of First Lady Jill Biden. Her sister Jackie (right) was killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde
As the president presses Congress for Ukraine’s funding and support for NATO, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will also be in attendance. Sweden will formally join NATO on Thursday, two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, forcing European countries to rethink their policies and increase support for the alliance founded 75 years ago.
Sweden joined NATO on March 7. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will attend the president’s State of the Union address
The White House confirmed that Biden also invited Ukraine’s First Lady and the widow of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but both declined the invitations.
Commander Shelby Nikitin received the Bronze Star for her leadership after USS Thomas Hudner deployed to the Red Sea
Navy Officer Commander Shelby Nikitin, who recently completed her tour on the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, is also a guest. She recently received the Bronze Star for her leadership after her ship was deployed to protect shipping from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Kameryn Pupunu, a Maui County police officer, was also present after the heroic action. He was one of several officers who responded when a fire broke out in his hometown of Lahaina. He helped save fifteen people from the deadly fires, but lost four immediate family members in the disaster.
Civil rights attorney Bettie Mae Fikes, who was at Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, is also a guest after joining the president to commemorate the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma last year.
Author Maria Shriver is the founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement
Maria Shriver is also a guest. The author, journalist and Kennedy family member founded the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement and works with the Cleveland Clinic.
The First Lady also invited several guests to highlight the government’s economic priorities.
Samantha Ervin-Upsher of Pittsburgh, PA is an apprentice with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Local 432 and met the First Lady during a visit to the state last year.
Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers who was with the president when he joined the picket line in Michigan last year, will also be there, as will Dawn Simms, a member of UAW Local 126 in Illinois, who joined last year Biden added a request for the reopening of an assembly plant that had been closed.
Mayor Garnett Johnson of Augusta, Georgia was invited after his city was designated as one of five Investing in America Workforce Hubs.
Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson will attend the State of the Union address on March 7
Steven Hadfield, who has a rare blood cancer and diabetes, is another guest visiting the address after the cost of his insulin copay was capped at $35 per month. He also benefits and will continue to benefit next year from maximums on his own costs for his cancer medicines.
And Minnesota educator Keenan Jones, who wrote the president an email thanking him for the Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness program, which has helped wipe out billions in federal student loan debt, will also join the First Lady as Biden continues to cancel student loan debt.
Other guests include Kris Blackley, an oncology nurse; Natalie King, who founded electric vehicle charger manufacturing company Dunamis Charge; Governor Stephen Roe Lewis, who is in his fourth term as governor of the Gila River Indian Community; Justin Phillips, founder of the nonprofit Overdose Lifeline; Rashawn Spivey, who owns Hero Plumbing and has worked to replace toxic lead pipes; and Tiffany Zoeller, who works as a military spouse and medical coder, who met the president last year when he took executive action to help military spouses.