US President Joe Biden gave his annual State of the Union address recently and it was wonderful or awful depending on who you ask. A large crowd of people came to witness the same but had different reactions to it.
During the speech the president acknowledged a guest in the first lady’s box seats and it seemed like the audience is enjoying them. Latorya Beasley of Birmingham, Joe Biden said, has had one child through in vitro fertilization. It was hoping to have another, but that the Alabama Supreme Court had shut down IVF clinics. It was all over the states.
The president also called on Congress to pass legislation protecting IVF. The state high court, of course, had issued a ruling that led some IVF clinics in Alabama to suspend services. It was only to avoid legal jeopardy. And the president speech happened a day before. Kay Ivey signed into law a measure intended to protect IVF clinics from civil. Another thing was that the criminal action over their handling of human embryos. A temporary fix with more possibly coming next year.
Several hours later, Katie Britt delivered the traditional opposition response to the president’s speech. She leaned heavily into the southern border issue, recalling a meeting. It was with a trafficking victim and calling out Biden over policies she said allowed for the death of University of Georgia student Laken Riley. Later the suspect in that case is in the country illegally and had previously been sent behind the bars in connection with other crimes and released.