Elizabeth Carr of Westminster, Mass. made headlines in 1981 as the first baby born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States, at a hospital in Virginia.

“The reason I was born there was because IVF was not actually allowed in Massachusetts at the time,” Carr, now 42 years old, told Yahoo News. Norfolk had the only fertility program “that was even attempting IVF at the time in the United States.”

Carr will attend President Biden’s State of the Union address as a guest of Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who said her story has “given hope to so many families struggling with infertility” in the wake of the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling last month that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children, threatening IVF access in the state.

“I am completely honored and totally humbled to represent the IVF community,” Carr said of Kaine’s invitation. “I have been a passionate advocate, since as early as I could string a sentence together.”

Late Wednesday, Alabama passed a law that enables fertility clinics to resume IVF treatments without fear of being held liable “for the damage to or death of an embryo.” However, it does not solve the question of whether a frozen embryo created by IVF should be considered a child under state law

Carr spoke with Yahoo News ahead of Thursday’s State of the Union to share more of her thoughts on the Alabama ruling and how it comes into play in the November elections.

Read more from that discussion here.