CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Judy Chu

Interview

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WHITFIELD: All right.

Just days after the Supreme Court let stand a strict new anti-abortion law in Texas. Now the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing on the legality of that Texas abortion ban.

The law bans abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. That's before many women even know that they're pregnant. The law also allows private citizens to bring civil suits against anyone who assists a pregnant person seeking an abortion in violation of the law.

Congresswoman Judy Chu is a Democratic representative from California. She is a member of the Ways and Means Committee, and is the author of a new bill in the House aimed at guaranteeing abortion access.

Congresswoman, so good to see you.

[14:29:58]

REP. JUDY CHU (D-CA): Thank you for having me.

[14:30:00]

WHITFIELD: So with the Senate scheduling to hold this hearing and you introducing this bill in the House, what you hope these two steps just might accomplish?

CHU: Well, the Woman's Health Protection Act, or what we call WHPA, would enshrine the protections of "Roe v. Wade" into law by establishing a federal statute that gives the right for patients to receive and providers to provide abortion care free from medically unnecessary restrictions that single out abortion and impede access. So what this means is that if WHPA were to pass, abortion access would

be protected everywhere regardless of the types of laws that states may pass whose only purpose is to impede abortion like dictating the width of clinic doors or forcing the doctors to have unnecessary admitting privileges in some hospital, or requiring an ultrasound.

All those provisions would be prohibited and a woman would have the freedom of choice to make a decision that would impact her future, a choice that is -- should be a private one between her and her doctor.

WHITFIELD: This morning on CNN, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar called the decision by the Supreme Court to not intervene in the Texas case an assault on women and jeopardizes "Roe v. Wade," and she's now calling for an end to the filibuster to protect abortion rights. Listen.

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SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): I believe we should abolish the filibuster. I do not believe an archaic rule should be used to allow us to put our heads in the sand -- to use Justice Sotomayor's words, to put our heads in the sand and not take action on the important issues, the challenges that are facing our country right now. Now and over the next years. We just will get nowhere if we keep this filibuster in place.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So ending the filibuster didn't help to help protect voting rights, and it certainly didn't happen while trying to get infrastructure, you know, across the finish line. So do you believe it has a better chance of ending the filibuster for the protection of abortion rights?

CHU: Well, I thank Senator Klobuchar for saying that. Yes, we should end the filibuster, or at the very least have an exception for certain very critical issues such as voting rights and such as access to abortion. Now the Woman's Health Protection Act actually can pass the House, in fact, in the last Congress we had 216 co-sponsors, and I'm so grateful that Pelosi has said that she will put this on the floor when we return.

But what many people don't realize is that in the Senate we have 48 co-sponsors. And we also have two Republicans that are pro-choice. So we actually have a majority there in the Senate that could pass this bill if it were not for the filibuster. So, yes, being able to have an exception for the filibuster is very key and critical for this.

WHITFIELD: And speaking of the infrastructure again, you know, this week the Biden agenda took a setback from a member of your own party, when Democratic Senator Joe Manchin wrote an op-ed threatening to pull his support for that agenda. The headline reading, "Why I Won't Support Spending Another $3.5 Trillion Amid Inflation, Debt and the Inevitability of Future Crises. Congress Needs to Take a Strategic Pause." So he at first did seem to support the infrastructure bill. Congresswoman, a key part of that spending bill is aimed at dealing

with climate change. Your state is in the midst of historic wildfires burning out of control. Louisiana and the northeast just devastated by catastrophic flooding and wind damage from Ida. So what is your message to your Senate colleague Manchin?

CHU: Well, there is a bipartisan infrastructure bill, but it does not do enough to address the effects of climate change. We need this $3.5 trillion Build Back Better human infrastructure bill, because it does include all of that. You know, these past 30 years have been the hottest in history, and I urge all those on this Labor Day to take care if you're having outdoor activities, because it's going to be record-breaking heat.

And it is a reflection of the fact that climate change is causing great disaster potentially for this planet if we don't do something about it. Now, this climate change can be addressed, though, through this infrastructure bill which has so many things. For one thing, to manage wildfires, it has $900 billion to manage these wildfires but also has numerous incentives to deal with carbon and to be able to get to renewable emergency, and to stop the negative effects of climate change very effectively.

[14:35:15]

So we really and truly need this if we're going to make a difference for Americans across this country.

WHITFIELD: All right. Congresswoman Judy Chu, thanks so much for being with us today.

CHU: Thank you.

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