WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden, his wife Jill and members of Congress carefully choose guests for the annual State of the Union speech, with an eye to political causes they want to highlight or constituents they are hoping to speak to.
The guests sit in the upper balcony of the House chamber where Biden will give his speech on Thursday night. Often, the president will welcome some of them by name.
Invitees this year include people impacted by IVF and family members of high-profile overseas prisoners:
ELIZABETH CARR: The first baby born from in vitro fertilization in the United States, Carr, 42, comes as the guest of Virginia's Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.
KATE COX: Cox is a Dallas-area woman who sued for the right to terminate a nonviable pregnancy. She then left Texas to get abortion care. She will be a guest of first lady Jill Biden, the White House said.
ELLA MILMAN, MIKHAIL GERSHKOVICH: The parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in a Moscow prison, will come as the guest of House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Republican from Louisiana.
GABRIEL SHIPTON: Shipton, the brother of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who the U.S. is trying to extradite for publishing classified documents, will be the guest of Kentucky Republican representative Thomas Massie.
