Biden, Democrats' SOTU guests spotlight reproductive rights fight
House Democrats have invited 28 advocates for reproductive rights to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday night, another indication of how much the party intends to focus on the issue heading into the November elections.
"The president understands and has been a champion for returning these most personal decisions to women and their families, and that's exactly who he is empowering," Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott ahead of the speech.
Clark has invited Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who said she nearly died when doctors initially denied her a medically necessary abortion in Texas, as her guest to Biden's speech.
Zurawski is now suing Texas over its near-total abortion ban in an effort to provide doctors with more clarity and authority to perform medically necessary abortions to protect the health of the mother.
"I just so admire Amanda because she is willing to relive what I'm sure is the most difficult days in her life in order to spread the word about what is happening and to give voice to the thousands of women who can't come to the State of the Union," Clark told ABC News.
The Massachusetts Democrat, who has shared the story of her own miscarriage, said she and Zurawski represent "a portrait of post and pre-Dobbs" America, referencing the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"When I had a miscarriage and needed abortion care to prevent infection, I got it. I got it without question. And now you're seeing that in the same situation, Amanda and so many thousands of other women have been denied that care and have put her own lives at jeopardy."
Zurawski told ABC News that it's not easy to relive the pain of losing a child and "nearly dying."
"They don't get easier the more I talk about it," Zurawski said. "Every time I talk about it is exhausting. It takes a toll, but it's something that I can do."
"There are so many people out there who have a story just like mine and they can't speak up and so I feel like it's my responsibility to speak up for them and to tell my story," she said.
