State of the Union guests spotlight divide on abortion and immigration but offer some rare unity
The invitation list for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday speaks volumes about what Democrats and Republicans want to focus on as the 2024 election season heats up.
Biden and Democratic lawmakers have invited several healthcare providers and women whose lives have been affected by stricter abortion laws in states with Republican-controlled legislatures, following the landmark 2022 Supreme Court ruling that stripped away constitutional protections for abortion. First lady Jill Biden also invited labor leaders, a gun control advocate and others she and her husband met as they traveled the country to promote his agenda.
Republican lawmakers are inviting guests focused on the country’s broken immigration system, an issue voters say is a central concern ahead of the November election.
The guests invited to sit in the galleries for Biden’s speech also include at least a few people who almost everyone in hyper-partisan Washington should be able to cheer on.
A look at some of those expected to attend Biden’s speech and the issues they will highlight:
— Kate Cox is a Texas woman who was denied an emergency abortion by the state Supreme Court late last year, even though her health was at risk and her fetus had a fatal condition. The mother of two ultimately had to leave the state for the procedure. She is a guest of Jill Biden.
—Dr. Caitlin Bernard is an Indianapolis gynecologist who was attacked in 2022 for providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim. She will be the guest of Representative Judy Chu of California.
– Elizabeth Carr, 42, is the first person born in the US via in vitro fertilization. She will be a guest of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. He said he invited Carr to highlight the concerns after the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling last month that frozen embryos can be considered children led the state’s three largest IVF providers to halt services.
—Roshni Kamta, born in Jersey City, NJ, was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 22 and decided to freeze her eggs before undergoing treatment. The experience inspired her to advocate for broader access to fertility treatments for breast cancer patients. She is a guest of Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J.
– Tammi Kromenake spent nearly 25 years in Fargo, ND, where she helped run the Red River Women’s Clinic, the state’s only abortion provider. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, North Dakota enacted some of the nation’s strictest abortion laws. Kromenaker has moved the clinic to the neighboring city of Moorhead, Minnesota. She is a guest of Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.
— Tammy Nobles is the mother of a young woman, Kayla Hamilton, who was murdered in 2022. The suspect was an MS-13 gang member who had entered the US illegally. Nobles was invited by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
– Border Patrol Agent Brandon Budlong, chairman of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2724, will be the guest of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the chair of the House Republican Caucus.
– Two New York Police Department officers, Ben Kurian and Zunxu Tian, who were attacked by migrants in a January incident near Times Square that drew national attention, will be the guests of Reps. Anthony D’Esposito and Nicole Malliotakis, both New York Republicans, as is Johnson.
– Valeria Delgado, a student at Chapman University in California who has benefited from policies designed to protect young migrants brought to the U.S. as children, will be the guest of Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif.
– Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will sit in the first lady’s box as Sweden prepares to complete the formal process of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Sweden joined NATO along with Finland after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
– Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, the parents of incarcerated Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, will attend as guests of Johnson. The Louisiana Republican said he invited them to highlight the “unjust” detention of their son, who has been jailed in Russia since March last year on espionage charges. Gershkovich and the US government dispute the charges against him.
– Lawmakers also receive victims and relatives of people killed or taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel. Among those expected to attend is Mia Schem, who was kidnapped and released by Hamas as part of a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel after spending more than 50 days in captivity.
Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, will be in the first lady’s box. Other union representatives joining her are Samantha Ervin-Upsher, a United Brotherhood of Carpenters apprentice, and Dawn Simms, a third-generation union auto worker. The UAW announced in January that it would support Biden.
– Jazmin Cazares, a gun control advocate, spent her senior year of high school traveling the country telling the story of her sister Jackie, who was one of 19 students and two teachers fatally shot in a shooting in May 2022 at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. She is a guest of the first lady.
—Dawn Chapman has been advocating for nuclear radiation cleanup around St. Louis for years. She will be the guest of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, who has been pressing the federal government to compensate victims of radioactive waste in the St. Louis and St. Charles regions of Missouri.
– Minnesota State Representative Cedrick Frazier is the author of legislation that restored the voting rights of more than 55,000 Minnesotans who have completed their sentences but are still on parole, probation or supervised release. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., invited Frazier to highlight voting rights efforts in her home state as she pushes for similar legislation at the federal level.
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AP writers Aamer Madhani, Farnoush Amiri, Rebecca Santana and Amanda Seitz in Washington, and Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Geoff Mulvihill in New Jersey contributed to this report.