A Texas woman who traveled out of state to get an abortion to end a nonviable pregnancy will be a guest of first lady Jill Biden for the State of the Union address in March.
Kate Cox of Dallas was 20 weeks pregnant when a genetic diagnosis showed it was unlikely her baby would survive. She became the first person since the U.S. Supreme Court ended the federal right to an abortion in 2022 to sue Texas for permission to end her pregnancy.
The lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights claimed continuing the pregnancy posed a threat to Cox's health and future fertility, but the Texas Supreme Court ruled in December she did not qualify for an abortion under the medical exception to the state's near-total abortion ban, and Cox traveled out of state to have the procedure.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday in a briefing that President Joe Biden and the first lady spoke to Cox on Sunday to invite her to the State of the Union address on March 7.
"They thanked her for her courage in sharing her story and speaking out about the impact of the extreme abortion ban in Texas," Jean-Pierre said. "Her story is incredibly powerful, devastating. And it speaks to the moment that we are in now when we talk about women having the right to make these deeply personal decisions about their healthcare that was taken away by the Supreme Court."
The invitation is another signal the president intends to make abortion rights an issue in this year's presidential election. Democrats had success with using abortion during the 2022 midterms after the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022 that ended the federal right to an abortion.
The president and Vice President Kamala Harris made a campaign stop in Manassas, Virginia, on Tuesday, a day after the 51st anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade that established federal abortion rights. On Monday in Wisconsin, Harris kicked off a nationwide "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms" tour.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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