--- title: Why Democratic Women Are Wearing White at the State of the Union Again description: The Democratic Women’s Caucus donned white this year to raise awareness about reproductive rights. canonical: https://time.com/6898693/women-white-state-of-the-union-2024-reproductive-rights/ author: Koh Ewe article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-03-08T02:30:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:53.407Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why Democratic Women Are Wearing White at the State of the Union Again og:description: The Democratic Women’s Caucus donned white this year to raise awareness about reproductive rights. og:url: https://time.com/6898693/women-white-state-of-the-union-2024-reproductive-rights/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0910e0d2699fb1b9/698a49354ee262863a31cbaa/State-of-the-Union-Democratic-Women-in-White.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-SOTU-BIDEN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Democratic Women Are Wearing White at the State of the Union Again twitter:description: The Democratic Women’s Caucus donned white this year to raise awareness about reproductive rights. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0910e0d2699fb1b9/698a49354ee262863a31cbaa/State-of-the-Union-Democratic-Women-in-White.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Democratic Congresswomen Wore White at the State of the Union Again > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Biggest Moments From President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union Address [Watch (HLS stream): Biggest Moments From President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union Address](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eRrTsAB1.m3u8) (5:44)  _Published 2024-03-08. President Joe Biden used his State of the Union address in Washington on Thursday to draw a sharp contrast between his administration's accomplishments and priorities and those of his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump._ by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Mar 8, 2024 2:30 AM UTC  U.S. Representatives dress in white to call attention to women’s rights on the floor of the House of Representatives ahead of President Joe Biden’s the State of the Union address on March 7, 2024. U.S. Representatives dress in white to call attention to women’s rights on the floor of the House of Representatives ahead of President Joe Biden’s the State of the Union address on March 7, 2024. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds—AFP/Getty Images by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Mar 8, 2024 2:30 AM UTC As nearly the entirety of Congress and other members of government filed into the House floor on Thursday in Washington, D.C., for President Joe Biden’s 2024 [State of the Union address](https://time.com/6898749/biden-state-of-the-union-biggest-moments-highlights-takeaways-border-gaza-trump/), a sea of white outfits was noticeable, as Democratic congresswomen used the opportunity once again to send a message. In a [press release](https://democraticwomenscaucus.house.gov/media/press-releases/democratic-womens-caucus-wear-white-and-don-reproductive-freedom-pins-sotu) on Wednesday, the Democratic Women’s Caucus announced that many of its members would wear white and don special pins that read “Fighting for Reproductive Freedom” to the event. “Our message is clear: women must be able to access the health care they need to control their own lives and futures,” DWC Chair Rep. Lois Frankel said in the statement. “That means women, not politicians, should be in charge of whether, when, and how to start or grow their families.”  WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 7: Democratic U.S. Representatives dress in white to call attention to women's rights ahead of the State of the Union address by President Joe Biden during a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the Capital building on March 7, 2024 in Washington, DC. This is Biden's final address before the November general election. (Photo by Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images) Shawn Thew—Pool/Getty Images The group has long donned white—a nod to the color of the suffragette movement—at the annual event to raise awareness on issues concerning women’s rights, including in [2019](https://time.com/5518859/state-of-the-union-2019-white/) and in [2020](https://time.com/5777514/women-wearing-white-state-of-the-union/). This year, the women in white are focusing their advocacy on reproductive rights. “We are standing up for your right to make your own health care decisions including abortion,” Florida Rep. Kathy Castor wrote in a [post](https://twitter.com/USRepKCastor/status/1765917881278026114) on X. Abortion rights—as well as, in recent weeks, [in vitro fertilization](https://time.com/6835548/lawmakers-ivf-embryos-alabama-legislation/)—have become a hot-button political issue across the nation since the overturning of _Roe v. Wade_ in 2022\. Several of [the guests invited to attend Biden’s speech](https://time.com/6898482/state-of-the-union-2024-guests/) on Thursday are people who have been affected by restrictive state laws, including a woman who was denied an abortion in Texas despite being vulnerable to a life-threatening condition and a [doctor](https://time.com/collection/time100-next-2022/6213808/caitlin-bernard/) who was investigated after she performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim. Elizabeth Carr, the first baby born in the U.S. via IVF in 1981, is also in attendance. ## Transcript pretty girl Putin of Russia signed the March invading Ukraine and sowing chaos throughout Europe and Beyond Is anybody in this room think spoon. In Ukraine? I assure you he will not. Walmart trailer accessories a former Republican Presidential spoon quote do whatever the hell you want. That's a quote. Former president actually said that bowing down the Russian leader. I think it's outrageous is dangerous at is unacceptable. We made no stronger than ever. Welcome to the alliance last year. Address this morning. Sweden officially joined and their ministers here tonight. Can I stand up? Welcome history is watching. Just like history watch 3 years ago on January 6th. When is erection storm this very Capital place the dagger the throat of American democracy man, you were here on that darkest of days. We all saw it with our own eyes. The instructions were not Patriots. They come to stop the peaceful transfer of power to overturn the will of the people January six lies about the 2020 election and the plot to steal the election posed a great gravest threat to US democracy since the Civil War. A threat to democracy must be defended. My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about Universe 6. I will not do that. This is a moment to speak the truth in the berry lies. There's a simple truth. You can't love your country only when you win. Girls bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power women, but they found out when reproductive Freedom was on the ballot. We won in 2022 and 2020 and again in 2024 and November my team again serious negotiation of the bipartisan group of senators. The result was a bipartisan bill with the toughest set of border security forms we've ever seen. Or you don't think so. Oh, you don't like that bill, huh? Black conservatives got together and said it was a good bill. I'll be darned that's amazing that bike tire 1500 more security agents and officers 100 more immigration judges help tackle the back load of two men in cases 4003 in the more Asylum officer instead of 6 years now and I station leading international effort to get more humanitarian assistance to gossip tonight. I'm directing the US military to lead and mercy mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean coast of Gaza. I can receive large shipments kind of food water medicine in temporary shelters. No, us boots will be on the ground a temporary. Will enable a massive increase the amount of material assistance getting in the Gaza everyday. Israel must allow more Aiden the gods mnsure humanitarian workers aren't caught in the crossfire. We're going to call. I have a cross in the northern Gaza. Leadership is real. I say this humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or bargaining chip protecting and saving innocent life has to be priority as we look to the Future the only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution overtime. I know it may not look like it but I've been around awhile. Trying to get to be my age certain things become clearer than ever. I know the American story again. And again, I seen the contest between competing forces in the battle for the soul of our nation between those who want to pull them back to the past those want to move American to the Future Embrace freedom and democracy a future based on core values the defined America honesty decency dignity and equality expect everyone to give everyone a fair trial to give hate no Safe Harbor. Do the people my age see differently? The American story of resentment revenge and retribution. That's not me. in my career I've been told I was too young. How do I get to let me on the central elevators for both? Sometimes? It's not a joke. I've been told I'm too old. Whether young or old I've always been known. I've always known what indoors I've known are Northstar the very idea of Americans that were all created equal deserves to be treated equally throughout our lives. 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