Bidens invite Texas woman at centre of abortion legal fight to State of the Union

The president and first lady spoke to Kate Cox on Sunday, thanking her for her ‘courage in sharing her story’

The Bidens have invited Kate Cox, the Texas woman who was caught in an abortion dispute in the state’s courts, to the State of Union address in March, the White House said.

In early December, a Texas judge granted Ms Cox an emergency abortion, as the Dallas woman’s baby was diagnosed with trisomy 18, a fatal condition. However, she was then forced to travel out of state to get the procedure because the state’s Supreme Court temporarily blocked the ruling after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton intervened.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden spoke to Ms Cox on Sunday, thanking her for her “courage in sharing her story and speaking out about the impact of the extreme abortion ban in Texas,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.

Ms Cox’s experience is “incredibly powerful, devastating, and it speaks to the moment that we are in now when we talk about women having the right to make these deeply personal decisions about their health care that was taken away by the Supreme Court,” Ms Jean-Pierre said.

She said Ms Cox had accepted the invitation. She will be the first lady’s guest at the State of the Union, the press secretary said.

“It is important for Americans to hear the harrowing stories that we’re hearing from women of their experiences across the country,” Ms Jean-Pierre said.

She added that the Biden administration is “standing with the majority of Americans on this and Republican elected officials are just not.”

The Biden-Harris 2024 campaign has made their commitment to fighting for abortion protections a central focus of its re-election efforts.

This dedication has been underscored in recent days, after what would have been the 51st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Roe v Wade.