- It is our intention for the Senate
to hold a vote on legislation
to codify the right to an abortion in law.
- The Women's Health Protection Act,
which would establish a federal law
allowing access to abortion, passed the House in September,
but remains stalled in the Senate,
and there's little indication, at least right now,
that even if it's brought up for a vote,
that it would see final passage.
Representative Judy Chu sponsors the legislation
and discusses what's next.
- We will try all that we can to put the pressure on
so that every vote
that we can get does indeed get cast for this.
The stakes are just too high,
to overturn 50 years of precedent.
Chuck Schumer is going to put this up for a vote again.
I believe that people will be very galvanized
because of this draft decision, and certainly every Senator
is going to hear from their constituents.
Now, I know the vote was 46-48 when it came up before,
but 3 Democrats were absent.
I also think that Senator Murkowski and Senator Collins
should be compelled to vote for this.
They voted no, but they are pro-choice,
and now they're saying that they were lied
to by the Supreme Court justices when they voted for them.
So I feel that, if they felt they were lied to,
then they should indeed cast their vote
for the Women's Health Protection Act
when it comes up in the Senate.
And with those votes, there would actually be
a majority of those in the Senate
that would vote for the act.
Of course, we would face the filibuster.
- You have the two Democratic senators
who don't support removing the filibuster,
so there's a barrier there in getting that remove
in order for something like this act to pass.
From your perspective, where is the fight?
Is it to try to talk to more Republican lawmakers
to get them to vote
and you have that supermajority to pass your act,
or is it tackling the filibuster first?
- Any or all options, of course.
Nonetheless, I do think that the filibuster
is standing in the way of this very, very critical issue.
- How do you think this issue is going to play
into the midterm elections?
Specifically, for your party.
- This will galvanize voters.
The decision that you make may affect yourself,
your daughter, and your granddaughter,
and that is of utmost importance.
So I do think that the midterm elections now will turn
on the issue of abortion and access to healthcare.
- Even though this is a draft decision right now,
it appears that this will be
the decision coming down in June or July.
How much of this draft decision is a turning point right now?
- It is my hope that seeing this draft decision,
that there would be justices that would not go for this,
that they would see what effect his is having
on the women of this country
and that they would not uphold this.
Actually, I think the claims made in the draft decision
are very, very disturbing, because it says that abortion
should not be a constitutional right,
should not be part of the 14th amendment
of due process and equal rights,
and I think that has a lot of implications
for other decisions as well.
So I think that it's important for the justices
to do the right thing and not uphold this.
Nonetheless, this draft decision is an incredible wake up call.
It shows how close we are to having abortion removed
as a right for women,
and this is very, very dangerous.
This is actually the gravest danger to women's rights
in half a century, and we must not let this happen.
- What are some of the things you're going to do,
when you return back to DC, on this issue?
- Well, we certainly are going to have a caucus
of the Pro-Choice Caucus and think of some actions
that we need to have in the upcoming months.
Clearly, we need to rally people all across the country
to speak up and speak out on this,
and to ensure that the votes are there in the Senate
for upholding the Women's Health Protection Act.