The invitation list for President Joe Biden 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 health care 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 abolished abortion Constitutional protection of abortion. First lady Jill Biden also invited labor leaders, a gun control advocate and others she and her husband met as they traveled across the country to promote his agenda.
Republican lawmakers are inviting guests with a strong focus on the country’s broken immigration system, an issue voters say is a key concern ahead of November’s elections.
The guests who should be in the stands for Biden’s speech also include at least a few people who almost everyone in hyperpartisan Washington should be able to cheer for.
A look at some of those expected to attend Biden’s address and the topics they will spotlight:
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
— 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 in danger and her fetus was fatally ill. The mother of two ultimately had to leave another state for the procedure. She is a guest of Jill Biden.
-DR. Caitlin Bernard is an Indianapolis gynecologist who was attacked for having an abortion in 2022 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 through in vitro fertilization in the United States. She will be the guest of Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. He said he invited Carr to highlight the concerns afterward Alabama Supreme Court Last month’s ruling that frozen embryos could be considered children prompted the state’s three major IVF providers to suspend their services.
—Roshni Kamta, a native of Jersey City, New Jersey, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 22 and decided to freeze her eggs before treatment. This experience inspired her to advocate for broader access to fertility treatments for breast cancer patients. She is a guest of Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
—Tammi Kromenaker spent nearly 25 years in Fargo, North Dakota, helping to operate the Red River Women’s Clinic, the state’s only abortion provider. After the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade repealed, North Dakota passed some of the strictest abortion laws in the country. Kromenaker moved the clinic to the neighboring town of Moorhead, Minnesota. She is a guest of Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn.
IMMIGRATION
— Tammy Nobles is the mother of a young woman, Kayla Hamilton, who was killed in 2022. The suspect was a member of the MS-13 gang who had entered the United States illegally. Nobles was invited by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
— Border Patrol Agent Brandon BudlongPresident of the National Border Patrol Council Local 2724, will be the guest of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., chairwoman 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 well as Johnson.
— Valeria Delgado, a student at Chapman University in California who has benefited from policies protecting young migrants brought to the U.S. as children, will be the guest of Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif. RUSSIA, ISRAEL and NATO
– Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will sit in the first lady box as Sweden on Thursday completed the formal process from Joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Sweden joined NATO along with Finland Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
— Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, The parents of imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will be in attendance as Johnson’s guests. The Louisiana Republican said he urged her to highlight the “unjustified” detention of her son, who has been imprisoned in Russia since March last year on espionage charges. Gershkovich and the US government deny the allegations against him.
– The legislature is also hosting victims and relatives of people killed or held hostage by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Among those expected to attend is Mia Shem, who was kidnapped by Hamas and released as part of a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel after spending more than 50 days in captivity.
WORK
Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, will be among the guests in the first lady’s box. Other union representatives who will join her include Samantha Ervin-Upsher, an apprentice with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, and Dawn Simms, a third-generation union worker. The UAW made the announcement in January Support Biden.
VOTING RIGHTS, GUN CONTROL and BEYOND
— Jazmin Cazares, a gun control advocate, traveled the country during her senior year telling the story of her sister Jackie, who was among 19 students and two teachers fatally shot in an elementary school shooting in May 2022 Uvalde, Texas. She is a guest of the First Lady.
– Dawn Chapman has been advocating for the elimination of nuclear radiation around St. Louis for years. She will be the guest Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouriwho has pushed the federal government to compensate victims of radioactive waste in the St. Louis and St. Charles region of Missouri.
— Minnesota state Rep. Cedrick Frazier is the author of legislation that restored voting rights to more than 55,000 Minnesotans who had served felony sentences but remained on probation, parole or supervised release. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., invited Frazier to spotlight voting rights efforts in her home state as she pushes for similar legislation at the federal level.
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Associated Press writers Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, Geoff Mulvihill in New Jersey, and Aamer Madhani, Farnoush Amiri, Rebecca Santana and Amanda Seitz contributed to this report.