House Democrats hope State of Union guests will help shine light on abortion-rights fight

In their effort to protect abortion rights, more than two dozen members of the House Pro-Choice Caucus will each bring a guest to Thursday night’s State of the Union address who they say highlights the human impact of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The caucus held a news conference Thursday outside the Capitol, where a handful of those guests — some no strangers to the headlines — told their stories. They included women who sought to prematurely end unviable pregnancies in highly restrictive states as well as doctors.

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., the caucus co-chair, described the women as being “on the frontlines of the war on reproductive freedom, women whose entire lives have been disrupted or threatened simply because they sought or provided basic health care.”

Among the guests were Amanda Zurawski, who says she nearly died after being denied an abortion in Texas in 2022. Zurawski’s water broke 18 weeks into her pregnancy, and her doctors told her she would lose her baby and that she was at risk of developing a life-threatening infection if the fetus was not removed. She, however, was denied an abortion until her body went into septic shock. 

“The near-total abortion ban in Texas nearly took my life and permanently compromised my ability to have children in the future,” said Zurawski, who was invited to President Joe Biden’s address by House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass. “Let there be no mistake, this is a direct result of the overturning of Roe.”

She said the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling last month that that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law and that someone could be held liable for destroying them “terrified” her and her husband so much that they moved their frozen embryos out of Texas.

On Wednesday night, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation shielding doctors from legal liability related to frozen embryos, but Republicans legislators shied away from proposals that would address the legal status of embryos created in IVF labs, action that some said would be needed to permanently settle the issue. 

“Today in the United States, the reproductive landscape is terrifying,” Zurawski said. “But we are on a precipice. Let me be clear: It can still get worse. We must stop this assault on women before even more of our rights are stripped away from us.”

Also in attendance Thursday night will be Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist. Bernard told The Indianapolis Star in 2022 she had performed an abortion on a 10-year-old girl who had traveled from another state where she could not legally get an abortion.

Indiana’s Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita accused Bernard of failing to report child abuse and violating patient privacy by speaking publicly about the case. The state’s medical board reprimanded and fined Bernard for violating privacy rules but cleared her of allegedly failing to report abuse.

Since Bernard first discussed the 10-year-old’s case, Indiana has passed its own ban on abortions, unless the mother’s life or health is seriously at risk, a “lethal fetal anomaly” is detected, or the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest.

“We're scared that someone will come and look at every single abortion we provide and tell us, ‘You were performing an illegal abortion and you're going to jail,’” said Bernard, who will be the guest of Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif. “We are being harassed and prosecuted and effectively tying our hands in the scariest situations. Because of this, OB-GYNs are leaving their states all across the country. They're leaving their communities, their homes because they have to.”

Also speaking was Dr. Damla Karsan, whose patient, Kate Cox, had her request last year for an abortion in Texas denied by the state Supreme Court. Cox argued that doctors told her that her fetus had a fatal condition and that her own health was at risk and that she might not able to have children in the future unless her pregnancy was terminated. 

“Every OB-GYN provider, every midwife, every family practitioner that provides obstetrical care sees cases like these,” said Karsan, who was invited to the State of the Union by Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, D-Texas. “And most of them are afraid. They're afraid because the penalties are so steep. We can lose our our livelihoods, our medical license. We’re threatened with up to 99 years in prison and also $100,000 fine.”

Cox herself will also be in attendance at the Capitol on Thursday night as a guest of the White House.

Brittany Watts, the guest of Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, said, “It is unfair and unjust for our bodies to be put on a platform for other people to tell us you can't do this, that and the third with your own body, and we want to make it clear that it is our body and our choice.”

Watts had a miscarriage at her Ohio home in September after spending several days in the hospital, where she was told her 22-week pregnancy was not viable. Although her fetus still had a detectable heartbeat, doctors recommended she be induced because she was at risk of death, sepsis or “complete placental abruption with catastrophic bleeding.” But an ethics panel at the hospital had concerns about Ohio’s abortion laws, delaying care and prompting Watts to go home on two separate days against medical advice. 

Watts was charged with abusing a corpse after police found the fetus clogged in her toilet. A grand jury, however, declined to indict her.

Asked what she hopes Biden will say about abortion rights during his speech, Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., said, “We expect and we know he's going to stand with us. She added: “The threat of Donald Trump is real. It's because of him that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and we know that Joe Biden will be a warrior for us.”

Clark accused Republicans of seeking a nationwide abortion ban.

“This is a campaign for control, complete control over if and when and how we have children,” she said.

Lee vowed that the Pro-Choice Caucus “will never, ever, ever back down. Alongside the Biden administration, we will continue to fight for a future where our reproductive freedoms are no longer up for debate.”

Meanwhile, the group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America announced Thursday it has launched a six-figure TV and digital ad campaign ahead of Biden’s State of the Union. The ads argue that the nationwide pro-life community offers greater financial and physical support to pregnant women than the president and Democrats.

“While Biden continues to push his extreme pro-abortion agenda, he fails to offer the support that women need when facing unplanned pregnancies,” SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement. “Thankfully, there are thousands of nationwide pregnancy centers and maternity homes that help pregnant women and their children.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.