WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5) announced Amanda Zurawski of Texas as her guest at President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union Address.
“Republicans told us that Dobbs was just the beginning. Their mission is clear: a nationwide abortion ban,” said Democratic Whip Clark. “Amanda Zurawski knows firsthand the pain and cruelty inflicted by the MAGA assault on reproductive freedom. Now, in the aftermath of the senseless Alabama ruling on IVF, her family’s future is once again in the hands of right-wing politicians. As we prepare to hear President Biden’s State of the Union Address, it is a privilege to host a woman whose story so powerfully illustrates what’s at stake for America: whether we will continue to be a nation defined by liberty for all.”
Eighteen weeks into her pregnancy, Amanda Zurawski’s water broke. Her doctors told her that she would lose her baby, Willow, and that she was at risk for a life-threatening infection. Amanda needed to terminate her pregnancy. But because of Texas’ near-total abortion ban, doctors were barred from taking action until Amanda was on the brink of death. Amanda was forced to wait until her body went into septic shock to receive the care she deserved. Now, with the dangerous precedent set by the Alabama Supreme Court and Republicans’ latest attacks on fertility treatments like IVF, Amanda’s reproductive future is again at risk.
Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, Whip Clark has joined House Democrats in supporting legislation to protect reproductive freedom: voting to safeguard access to contraception, voting to protect Americans’ right to travel for reproductive care, and introducing a discharge petition to force a vote on codifying the right to abortion.
In 2022, Whip Clark wrote about her miscarriage which resulted in needing abortion care. Following the right-wing Majority’s overturning of Roe, she was arrested while peacefully demonstrating in protest in front of the Supreme Court.
At the start of 2023, Whip Clark shared her thoughts about the struggle for freedom in a post-Roe world in The Hill. And in January, Whip Clark wrote for MSNBC about the danger that still lies ahead amid Republicans’ pursuit of a nationwide abortion ban.