Biden Kate Cox, Texas abortion ban in State of the Union. Read what he said.

President Joe Biden made Kate Cox, a Dallas mother of two who was forced to travel outside of Texas to terminate an unviable pregnancy, a central part of his State of the Union address Thursday night, once again drawing the nation's attention to the state's near-total abortion ban — one of the strictest in the country.

After the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 reversed the landmark Roe v. Wade case, which guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion for nearly 50 years, Cox in December 2023 became the first woman in the country to seek a court-approved abortion after her physician said that her fetus had a severe genetic condition, trisomy 18, and "virtually no chance" of survival.

Cox's doctors had also advised her that carrying the pregnancy to term would increase her risk of fertility loss and other health issues, potentially hurting her chances of eventually delivering the third child Cox and her husband desperately wanted.

Cox ultimately left the state during her 21st week of pregnancy to seek an abortion hours before the Texas Supreme Court ruled that her baby's fatal diagnosis and the risks to Cox's health associated with carrying the pregnancy to term did not qualify her for an exception.

"We’re going through the loss of a child," Cox said in an interview with "NBC Nightly News" while her request to terminate her pregnancy in Texas was in limbo before the state Supreme Court. "There’s no outcome here that I take home my healthy baby girl. So it’s hard."

Here are Biden's full remarks on Cox and abortion rights:

"Like most Americans, I believe Roe v. Wade got it right. I think Vice President (Kamala) Harris for being an incredible leader defending reproductive freedom and so much more. Thank you.

My predecessor (former President Donald Trump) was determined to see Roe v. Wade overturned, and he brags about it. Look at the chaos that has resulted.

Joining us tonight is Kate Cox, a wife and mother from Dallas. She had become pregnant again and had a fetus with a fatal condition. Her doctor told Kate that her own life and ability to have children in the future were at risk if she did not act.

Texas law banned her ability to act, so Kate and her husband had to leave the state to get what she needed. What her family went through should never have happened, but it's happening with too many others. The state law criminalizes doctors, forcing survivors of rape and incest to leave their states to get the treatment they need.

Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor have promised to pass a ban on reproductive freedom. My God, what freedom else would you take away? In the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court wrote the following, and with all due respect, justices, women are not without electoral power — excuse me, electoral or political power. You're about to realize just how much you were wrong about that.

Clearly, clearly those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women, but they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot. We won in 2022, 2023, and we will win again in 2024.

If you, the American people, send me and Congress the support for the right to choose, I promise you, I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again."

As Biden spoke, Maria Shriver, a journalist who helped the White House announce an initiative to close gaps in women's health care research, squeezed Cox's hand in support. Both sat to the right of First Lady Jill Biden, who invited Cox to the address in January.

More: Here's what the Texas Supreme Court's ruling against Kate Cox means for abortions

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: In State of the Union, Biden highlights Kate Cox, Texas abortion ban