'Worth Going to Jail If Necessary': Rep. Jackie Speier on Getting Arrested in Fight for Abortion Rights

Bay Area Reps. Jackie Speier and Barbara Lee were among 17 members of Congress — and about 35 people altogether — arrested Tuesday for blocking a street near the U.S. Supreme Court during an abortion rights demonstration.

Donning green bandanas that said "Won't Back Down," the group marched from the Capitol, and within minutes of arriving at the fenced-off court building were ordered by Capitol police to "cease and desist." They instead sat down on the street, blocking traffic, and after repeated warnings from officers to disperse, were led away.

"I've never been arrested before but I can hear the late Congressman John Lewis imploring me to get in good trouble," Speier wrote on Twitter. "We must be willing to speak out for patients who have the right to health care, and the fundamental right to bodily autonomy."

Other members of Congress arrested included Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, who said in a tweet that she and her colleagues made it back to the House in time to vote on bills later that day.

The protest follows last month's landmark ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and rescinding the constitutional right to an abortion.

Speier, who represents parts of San Francisco and the Peninsula — and plans to retire later at the end of her term — spoke live from the Capitol on Wednesday with KQED's Brian Watt about her decision to participate in this act of civil disobedience.

The following interview is edited for length and clarity.

Brian Watt: Why did the two of you and other members decide it was time to take an action like this?

Rep. Jackie Speier: It has everything to do with the fact that it was the most horrific decision that has come down since Dred Scott. And so 17 members joined in being arrested because that's how serious we think this is. We think it is worth going to jail if necessary.

It's very similar to the kind of civil disobedience that went on when women were trying to get the right to vote and suffragettes chained themselves to the fence at the White House and got jailed. And so we're going to take it to the streets and we'll do whatever is necessary to restore the right of every person in this country to have control over their bodies. Right now, we have what is called government-mandated pregnancy and it cannot stand.

Do you and other House Democrats plan to take it to the streets even more? More protests like this? And what kind of effect do you think they have?

I can't express to you what we're going to do next or if we're going to do anything next.

It was something we did to draw attention to the fact that, once again, we have passed the Women's Health Protection Act out of the House. We've done it twice now in less than six months. We also passed a bill that guaranteed contraception for women, and both those bills went to the Senate, and that's where they sit.

So we need to alert the American people, men and women, that if they care about their own independence, their ability to have some personal autonomy, that they need to vote their beliefs by voting for people that respect the right to choose and are people that are willing to restore the rights that were provided originally.

Do you think this issue will motivate voters not just in a district like yours, but in others throughout the country that could be more competitive?

I absolutely do. I think these horrific examples, a 10-year-old rape victim having to travel across state lines to get an abortion and then to have that health care professional, that OBGYN, who did exactly what she was supposed to do — it was legal in Indiana — and report it to the appropriate department within two days, and then she is being smeared by the attorney general. I think people need to recognize the aberration that it is.