PPWI Attends and Reacts to 2024 State of the Union

Milwaukee, Wis. – Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin President and CEO Tanya Atkinson attended the 2024 State of the Union address to Congress as the guest of Congresswoman Gwen Moore.

“I was honored to attend the State of the Union as the guest of Congresswoman Moore. The Congresswoman is a penultimate champion of our patients, providers, and communities. President Biden and Vice President Harris have consistently proven to be dedicated advocates of reproductive health and rights and that was reflected in tonight’s speech,” said PPWI President and CEO Tanya Atkinson.

In the address this evening President Biden called out attempts to ban abortion nationwide, and highlighted the real consequences of the Dobbs decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion.

One of President Biden’s invited guests this evening was Kate Cox, a mother of two from Texas who was denied a lifesaving abortion. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden invited Latorya Beasley, an Alabama woman who was going through the invitro fertilization (IVF) process to grow her family when a court decision caused her embryo transfer to be cancelled. Other reproductive rights advocates and impacted persons attended as invited guests: Kaitlyn Joshua was denied miscarriage care and Nancy Davis was denied  abortion care for an unviable pregnancy, both in Louisiana; Kayla Smith had to travel from Idaho to Washington State to receive abortion care; Amanda Zurawski from Texas was left with permanent physical damage after being denied abortion care for a nonviable pregnancy, only receiving care after becoming septic; Brittany Watts from Ohio was charged with a felony for experiencing a miscarriage; Tammi Kromenaker runs the Red River Clinic, which was the only abortion care clinic in North Dakota until the Dobbs decision forced its move to Minnesota; Dr. Caitlin Bernard an abortion care provider from Indiana; Amanda Adeleye, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist from Illinois; and, while not named, guests and members of Congress themselves who have received abortion care.

“Representing PPWI’s mission at the State of the Union tonight was an incredible honor and I am grateful to Congresswoman Moore for the invitation. I look forward to the continued work we will do for Wisconsin’s communities,” said Atkinson.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.