Why are Democratic Congresswomen wearing white at President Biden's State of the Union 2024? Reason explored

Photographs from President Joe Biden's third State of the Union address showing dozens of House Democratic women wearing white are going viral. On Thursday, March 7, 2024, the House Democratic Women's Caucus donned the white color in support of women's rights, including reproductive rights.

Along with the clothes, they also wore pins saying, "Fighting for Reproductive Freedom."

The decision comes in the wake of several states banning abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. More recently, in a controversial decision, the Alabama High Court ruled that frozen embryos have the rights of children, thereby threatening access to IVF in the state.

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Democratic reps wear white during Biden's SOTU address, in honor of the suffrage movement

In her post, Florida Democratic rep, Kathy Castor explained, they wore suffrage white, in honor of the early 20th-century women's rights movement. White color has long been associated with suffragettes, women who fought for women's right to vote in the United Kingdom in the 1900s.

Encouraged by suffragette Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, nearly 300,000 people demonstrated in London's Hyde Park in 1908 for their "votes for women" campaign. They were all dressed in white. The movement's official colours were purple, white, and golden yellow, but since the majority of the images were taken in black and white at the time, white ended up taking centre stage.

This is not the first time female lawmakers wore white to stand for women's rights. Back in 2020, during former President Trump's State of the Union address, democratic women wore suffrage white in support of the rights of women and disenfranchised groups.

Those wearing white on Thursday included reps, Robin Kelly, Norma Torma Torres, Linda Sanchez, and Nanette D. Barragán. Before Biden's address, Illinois democratic representative, Robin Kelly took to X in support of the cause, saying:

"As the hours count down to President Biden's State of the Union, I've joined my @DemWomenCaucus colleagues in all white to symbolize our joint commitment to women's rights. We will never stop advocating for women, from reproductive rights to workplace equality."

House Minority Whip Rep., Katherine Clark (Dem. Massachusetts) spoke in favor of Amanda Zurawski, a woman from Texas who nearly lost her life after being denied an abortion despite her unborn child's fatal condition. Zurawski, who is currently suing the state, was invited by Clark as her guest. The democrat tweeted:

"Texas' abortion ban nearly cost Amanda Zurawski her life. Now, her ability to start a family is once again under attack by the MAGA effort to criminalize IVF."

In his speech, Biden too called out the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, stating women are not without "electoral or political power."

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While the democratic women supported fundamental rights for women, some wore yellow ribbons and dog tags in support of Ukraine, and American hostages were still held captive by Hamas. Others wore blue in favor of Israel.