Kate Cox, a Texas woman who was forced to flee the state to receive lifesaving abortion care, will be First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s guest at the State of the Union address in March.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Bidens spoke with Cox on the phone Sunday, “they thanked her for her courage in sharing her story and speaking out about the impact of the extreme abortion ban in Texas.”
“The First Lady invited Kate to join her as a guest at the State of the Union and Kate accepted, so those are ways that you’re going to hear the president lift up those very personal stories,” Jean-Pierre said.
Cox’s fetus with diagnosed with a medical condition incompatible with life and her doctors warned that carrying the fetus to term would mean putting her life and future fertility at risk. But, her emergency request for an abortion was denied by the Texas Supreme Court.
She later fled the state to receive lifesaving abortion care.
Biden has been clear that reproductive rights is a major campaign issue after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a constitutional right to an abortion.
Several Republican states have since passed laws banning the procedure. Texas has one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country. It bans the procedure after 6 weeks of pregnancy unless to save the life of the pregnant person. There is no exception for rape or incest. The law also allows private citizens to sue anyone who assisted someone in obtaining an abortion.
