WASHINGTON D.C. (WBAP/KLIF News ) – A Dallas-area woman at the center of a high-profile abortion debate is among North Texans will attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday night.
Kate Cox drew national attention in December when she sued Texas seeking an emergency abortion while twenty weeks pregnant. A district court granted her request but the decision was overturned by the state Supreme Court.
She said the move forced her to leave the state to get the medical procedure after her doctors told her the fetus was unviable and that her life was in danger. Cox is a guest of First Lady Hill Biden.
“I am a Texan. I love Texas. I want to raise my children here. I want to be able to get access to the medical care that I need and for my daughter to have that as well,” said Cox.
State law allows the procedure if the mother is facing a life-threatening condition. Critics argue the law’s exemption fails to help in practice.
U.S. Representative Collin Allred invited Austin Dennard, a Dallas OB-GYN who also had to leave the state to get an abortion after learning that her fetus had a fatal birth defect.
Priscilla Martinez of Forney will be U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro’s guest her husband Aaron Martinez was killed in May. He was shot over a dozen times in Kaufman County May.
U.S. Representative Beth Van Duyne invited Tom Homan to highlight the current crisis at the southern border , according to the Dallas Morning News.
As acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under former President Donald Trump, Homan pushed for more aggressive policies. Immigration has become a key issues among voters who were polled nationwide in addition abortion, the economy and foreign policy.
The sister of a Uvalde school shooting victim will also be in attendance.
The president of the United Auto Workers union secured an invitation. Shawn Fain who announced that the union is endorsing Biden after it successfully secured new contracts with Detroit’s big three automakers after a six-week strike.
The decision to invite Fain shows the Biden administration’s focus on Michigan as a battle ground state and blue-collar auto employees an important sector of the electorate.
On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre teased the president’s outlook for continuing military aid.
“The president’s going to continue to make his case that House Republicans need to move forward. The Speaker needs to put the national security supplemental on the floor. We know that it would get overwhelming support,” she said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson described how he sees the current state of the union on the eve of the address.
“I’ve been asked as many of us have ‘if you’ve had to describe in one word what you believe the state of the union is…you’ve heard the word crisis…you’ve heard the word catastrophe…I think maybe a summary is the word decline,” he said.
President Biden has been traveling across the country while seeking re-election touting his work on boosting the economy, benefits of the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, support for labor unions and the implementation of green energy.
WBAP will be carrying the address live. Coverage starts at 7 p.m.
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