--- 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=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Democratic Congresswomen Wore White at the State of the Union Again ## 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6898693/women-white-state-of-the-union-2024-reproductive-rights/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6898693/women-white-state-of-the-union-2024-reproductive-rights/"},"headline":"Why Democratic Congresswomen Wore White at the State of the Union Again","datePublished":"2024-03-08T02:30:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:42:53.407Z","description":"The Democratic Women’s Caucus donned white this year to raise awareness about reproductive rights.","url":"https://time.com/6898693/women-white-state-of-the-union-2024-reproductive-rights/","keywords":["state of the union","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0910e0d2699fb1b9/698a49354ee262863a31cbaa/State-of-the-Union-Democratic-Women-in-White.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Koh Ewe","jobTitle":"Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore.","url":"https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0910e0d2699fb1b9/698a49354ee262863a31cbaa/State-of-the-Union-Democratic-Women-in-White.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-SOTU-BIDEN","caption":"US-POLITICS-SOTU-BIDEN","creditText":"Andrew Caballero-Reynolds—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/state-of-the-union/","name":"state of the union"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6898693/women-white-state-of-the-union-2024-reproductive-rights/","name":"Why Democratic Congresswomen Wore White at the State of the Union Again"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Biggest Moments From President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union Address","description":"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.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eRrTsAB1/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-03-08T06:32:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eRrTsAB1.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6898693/women-white-state-of-the-union-2024-reproductive-rights/","duration":"PT5M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6898693/women-white-state-of-the-union-2024-reproductive-rights/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```