Clinics considering next moves after Kay Ivey signs bill into law; president expected to put reproductive rights at center of speech
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Alabama fertility clinics that paused in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments following a controversial state supreme court ruling last month that equated frozen embryos to children are considering their next moves after Alabama’s governor, Kay Ivey, signed a bill into law aimed at protecting IVF providers from potential legal liability on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is preparing to deliver the final State of the Union address of his presidential term, where Democrats plan to put reproductive freedom literally front and center this evening. Among the guests invited to the SoTU are guests involved in the reproductive rights movement in some way, including Kate Cox, who made headlines in December when she fled Texas to receive abortion care after she was denied access to the procedure in her home state. Elizabeth Carr, the first person born via in vitro fertilization in the US, is also expected to attend.
9am ET: Biden will receive his intelligence briefing
9.40am: Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will testify to the Senate Banking committee
10am: The House will convene. The Senate will meet.
10am: Treasury secretary Janet Yellen will hold a bilateral meeting with Germany’s minister for economic affairs and climate action Robert Habeck.
8.25pm: Biden, First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will depart the White House en route to the Capitol.
9pm: Biden will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress.
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