白宫周四宣布了在总统乔·拜登发表国情咨文时将坐在第一夫人吉尔·拜登包厢里的嘉宾，包括那些为生殖自由而战、倡导预防枪支暴力和受益于总统学生贷款豁免努力的人。
白宫在一份声明中表示，他们之所以受到邀请，是因为每个人都“将总统在演讲中要解决的问题或主题拟人化，或者他们体现了拜登-哈里斯政府为美国人民工作的政策”。
几位受邀者正在为生殖自由而战:阿拉巴马州伯明翰市的拉托里亚·比斯利(Latorya Beasley)和凯蒂·考克斯(Katie Cox)。前者是通过试管婴儿生下第一个孩子的女性，在州最高法院做出裁决后不得不取消胚胎移植。后者是31岁的得克萨斯州女性，被该州最高法院拒绝紧急堕胎
“拜登总统和哈里斯副总统认为，像凯特和拉托里亚这样的故事永远不应该在美国发生。但共和党当选官员希望将这一现实强加给全国妇女，”白宫在一份声明中说。
白宫表示，在国情咨文中，拜登将“再次呼吁国会恢复联邦法律对罗诉韦德案的保护，以便每个州的妇女都有自由做出非常个人的医疗保健决定。”
贾兹敏·卡萨雷斯在她9岁的妹妹杰基·卡萨雷斯在德克萨斯州乌瓦尔德的罗布小学遇害后成为预防枪支暴力的倡导者，她也受到了邀请。
“我真的很震惊被邀请，”她告诉ABC新闻。“我觉得这是关注枪支暴力对小社区造成的影响的又一次机会。”
美国汽车工人联合会主席肖恩·费恩将在演讲期间与吉尔·拜登坐在一起。UAW支持拜登当选总统费恩说，拜登给了联邦成功的最好机会。
拜登一直标榜自己是最“亲工会”的总统，在UAW工人罢工时加入了抗议队伍。
周四正式加入北约联盟的瑞典首相乌尔夫·克里斯特松将作为白宫嘉宾出席。拜登曾表示，北约国家之间有一个“神圣的承诺”，而且抨击前总统唐纳德·特朗普最近的言论他将“鼓励”俄罗斯对“违约”的北约国家“为所欲为”。
白宫还邀请了美国海军军官谢尔比·尼基丁指挥官，她最近在美国海军托马斯·哈德纳号航母上完成了指挥之旅，该航母正在保护红海的海运船只免受胡塞武装的袭击。
星期三，也门胡塞武装分子杀害三名平民周三在一艘巴巴多斯和利比里亚货船上，这是该组织自开始对该地区主要航道发动一系列袭击以来首次对商船发动致命袭击，以抗议以色列对哈马斯的战争。
这去年夏天夏威夷山火造成了重大损失——100人死亡，6600多英亩土地被烧毁，数千所房屋和其他建筑成为废墟。来自夏威夷拉海纳的警察Kameryn Pupunu将出席国情咨文。普普努在8月的山火中救了15个人，他自己的四名直系亲属也在火灾中丧生。
拜登将在他的演讲中关注经济，包括他消除学生债务的努力如何帮助了美国人。其中包括白宫客人基南·琼斯，他是一名中学教师，作为总统公共服务贷款减免计划的一部分，他的剩余学生贷款债务得到了减免。
通过他们的客人、其他立法者希望今年能关注两个特别的问题:妇女的生殖保健权利，以及以色列和哈马斯在加沙的持续冲突。例如，弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员蒂姆·凯恩在一份声明中宣布，美国第一位通过体外受精受孕的人伊丽莎白·卡尔将成为他的演讲嘉宾。
议长迈克·约翰逊邀请获得自由的以色列人质米娅·沙姆出席。他还邀请了两位金星父母在2021年美国从阿富汗混乱撤军期间，谁在喀布尔机场爆炸中失去了孩子。
ABC新闻将在晚上9点直播国情咨文，ABC新闻直播将从晚上7点开始直播特别报道，ABC新闻数字版将从晚上7点开始直播博客。
White House announces guest list for State of the Union
The White House on Thursday announced the guests that will be seated in first lady Jill Biden's box at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address -- including those fighting for reproductive freedom, advocating for gun violence prevention and benefiting from the president's student loan forgiveness efforts.
They were invited because each "personify issues or themes to be addressed by the President in his speech, or they embody the Biden-Harris Administration's policies at work for the American people," the White House said in a statement.
Several invitees are engaged in reproductive freedom battles: Latorya Beasley -- the Birmingham, Alabama, woman who had her first child through IVF and had to cancel an embryo transfer after the state Supreme Court ruling, and Katie Cox -- the 31-year-old Texas woman who was denied an emergency abortion by the state's Supreme Court.
"President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that stories like Kate's and Latorya's should never happen in America. But Republican elected officials want to impose this reality on women nationwide," the White House said in a statement.
The White House said during his State of the Union address, Biden will "again call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law so women in every state have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions."
Jazmin Cazares, who became an advocate for gun violence prevention after her 9-year-old sister, Jackie Cazares, was killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, is also invited.
"I was really shocked to be invited,"she told ABC News. "I feel like it's another opportunity to spotlight what gun violence does to small communities."
President of the United Auto Workers union Shawn Fain will sit with Jill Biden during the speech.UAW endorsed Biden for president, with Fain saying Biden gives the union the best shot for success.
Biden, who has touted himself as the most "pro-union" president, joined Fain on the picket line when UAW workers were on strike.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden, which formally joined the NATO alliance on Thursday, will attend as a White House guest. Biden has said there is a "sacred commitment" among NATO countries, andblasted former President Donald Trump's recent commentsthat he would "encourage" Russia to "do whatever the hell they want" to NATO countries that are "delinquent."
The White House also invited Commander Shelby Nikitin, an officer in the U.S. Navy who recently completed her command tour onboard the USS Thomas Hudner, which was protecting maritime shipping vessels in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks.
On Wednesday,Houthi militants in Yemen killed three civiliansaboard a Barbadian and Liberian cargo carrier on Wednesday, marking the group's first fatal strike on a commercial vessel since it began a string of attacks on key shipping lanes in the region in protest of Israel's war against Hamas.
TheHawaii wildfires last summertook a major toll -- killing 100 people, burning more than 6,600 acres, and leaving thousands of homes and other structures in ruins. Kameryn Pupunu, a police office from Lahaina, Hawaii, is set to attend the State of the Union. Pupunu saved 15 people from the August wildfires, and lost four of his own immediate family members to the fires.
Biden willfocus on the economy during his speech, including how his efforts to eliminate student debt have helped Americans. That includes White House guest, Keenan Jones, a middle school teacher who had his remaining student loan debt forgiven as part of the president's Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
Through their guests, otherlawmakers will be hoping to draw attention to two particular issues this year: women's reproductive health care rights, and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. For example, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., announced in a statement that Elizabeth Carr, the first person in the U.S. to be conceived through use of IVF, will be his guest for the speech.
Speaker Mike Johnson invited Mia Schem, a freed Israeli hostage, to attend. He also invitedtwo Gold Star parentswho lost children in the Kabul airport bombing during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
ABC News will air the State of the Union live at 9 p.m., ABC News Live will stream special coverage starting at 7 p.m. and ABC News Digital will have a live blog starting at 7 p.m.
