State of the Union guest list makes political points

Here's a look at some of those expected to be in attendance for Biden's address and the issues they bring into focus:

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Biden and Democrat lawmakers have invited several health care providers and women whose lives have been impacted by changes to reproductive laws.

-- Kate Cox is a Texas woman who was denied an emergency abortion by the state's Supreme Court late last year even though her health was in danger and her fetus had a fatal condition. The mother of two eventually had to go out of state for the procedure.

-- Elizabeth Carr, 42, is the first person born in the US via in vitro fertilisation, whose presence will highlight concerns over the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling on frozen embryos.

--Roshni Kamta, a New Jersey native, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at 22 and decided to freeze her eggs before undergoing treatment. The experience inspired her to advocate for wider access to fertility treatments for breast cancer patients.

--Tammi Kromenaker spent nearly 25 years in Fargo, North Dakota, helping operate the Red River Women's Clinic, the state's sole abortion provider. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Kromenaker had to move the clinic to Moorhead, Minnesota.

IMMIGRATION

Republican lawmakers are inviting guests who place heavy focus on the nation's immigration system, which voters say is a central concern.

-- Tammy Nobles is the mother of a young woman, Kayla Hamilton, who was killed in 2022. The suspect was an MS-13 gang member who had entered the US illegally.

-- 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.

-- Valeria Delgado, a student at Chapman University in California who has benefitted from the policy created to protect young migrants brought to the US as children.

RUSSIA, ISRAEL and NATO

-- Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will be a guest as Sweden completed the formal process of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Sweden along with Finland moved to join NATO after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

-- Lawmakers are hosting victims and relatives of people killed or held hostage by Hamas in the October 7 attack on Israel. Among those expected to attend are Mia Schem, who was abducted by Hamas and released as part of a temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel after spending more than 50 days in captivity.

-- Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, the parents of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, will attend. Their son has been jailed in Russia since last March on espionage charges disputed by the US government.

LABOUR and GUN CONTROL

First lady Jill Biden has invited union leaders, including United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, Samantha Ervin-Upsher, a United Brotherhood of Carpenters apprentice, and Dawn Simms, a third-generation union autoworker.

Jill Biden has also invited gun control advocate Jazmin Cazares, whose sister Jackie, who was among the 19 students and two teachers fatally shot at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Australian Associated Press