Host (Marcelino Benito): Congressman Fletcher, I appreciate your time this evening. The abortion rights landscape in this country, as you know, is far different than it was one year ago at the 49th anniversary of Roe V Wade. What are your thoughts on where things stand today?

LF: Well, thanks so much for the question and thanks for your attention to this question because this is something very much in the minds of my constituents at home in Houston. It's something I've heard about, and of course, I've been involved in this work for many years. I think it's important to remember today, as it is the 50th anniversary of the Roe V Wade decision, that Roe V Wade was a case brought to us by Texas women who were fighting the system and who were working to protect the liberty and dignity and autonomy and the privacy. Of American women and families to make their own choices. What we've seen in the last nearly a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe V Wade last summer, and of course, as Texans began to experience the effects of laws that were passed in the last legislative session restricting access to abortion across our state, we have seen a healthcare crisis. And it's something that very much my constituents are concerned about. I hear about it from patients. They hear about it from doctors. And we are in a world that is very unlike the one that we've known for the last 50 years and it is, it is mobilizing people both at home and across the country.

Host: Now recently you became whip of the pro-choice Caucus in Congress. What do you hope to accomplish in this new role?

LF: Well, I think it's very important for those of us who support the rights for people to make their own personal healthcare decisions, which is what the majority of Americans support, to be sure that we are both putting forth our own legislation to identify the things that we can do right now to help protect those rights. And certainly we've done that in the last Congress and intend to do it again. We also have to fight against some very scary proposals that are coming from the other side. And so my job as the whip of the pro-choice Caucus is to make sure that our Members understand the proposals that are coming, the bills that are coming before us and are educated on how those can impact our constituents. And that we can come together and strongly respond both in in putting forth the legislation that our constituents want to see and in voting against legislation that would be harmful to American families. And that's something we've seen, unfortunately, at home in Texas and we're seeing in states across the country.

Host: As you know, Texas is already passed one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation, and there are attempts to make it harder for women to travel out of state for abortion and even legal battles underway right now over rescinding decades old approval of abortion drugs. Is Texas, in your opinion, losing the battle for abortion rights right now?

LF: Well, certainly Texas is at the center of the battleground, but I don't think that we will continue, if we can mobilize to respond to what we have seen happening in Texas. And I do think that that Texas is a cautionary tale. I can tell you that I've been involved in this work for many, many years and a lot of people thought that the laws like the laws we've seen in Texas would never be passed, that they would never be upheld in the courts, that Roe V Wade would never be overturned. In fact, we've seen the opposite. And so what we know we need to do now is really mobilize and support of the right to make these decisions ourselves. There was a poll that came out from the University of Texas last summer that said only 15% of people in Texas support the Texas laws that are on the books now, completely banning abortion. Only 15% of Texans, 78% of Texans support the right to access to abortion. So what you are seeing is legislation that is very out of step with what the majority of Texans want and certainly when it comes to the right to travel. As you may know, I introduced a bill in Congress to protect the right to travel. We passed that bill in the House of Representatives last year and unfortunately it did not pass the Senate. It's a bill I plan to reintroduce because we are seeing that in the state of Texas. The state of Texas is taking the position that it can prohibit women who are pregnant. From leaving the state to get the health care that they need, that is inconsistent with our values as Texans, that is inconsistent with who we believe that we are as Texans. And we are seeing those scary laws introduced in other states. And so we really need a national response at the congressional level to protect the right to travel between the states, which frankly most Americans take for granted and assume it is constitutionally protected. The Supreme Court has recognized it. The idea that we can't travel freely between the states is pretty inconceivable to most Americans. And likewise that we need to pass these additional bills that we've introduced, including a bill that would make the framework of Roe V Wade, which has been for the last 50 years, the law of the land enshrined in federal law, and guarantee those protections for Americans in all 50 states.

Host: Congresswoman, President Biden has made it clear he'd like to see Roe codified into law. It didn't happen last Congress. Now with Republicans in control of the house, is that path basically dead at this moment, do you believe?

LF: Well, we'll continue to fight for it at certainly that's one of the things that we have mobilized around in the pro-choice caucus. And we will again introduce the Women's Health Protection Act, which does exactly that. We did pass it in the house twice in the last Congress, certainly for the next two years with Republicans in charge of the Congress. I don't expect this bill to come to the floor, although we're going to do everything we can to try to get this bill to the floor because it is what the majority of Americans would like to see happen. And I think that what we can count on is that in 2024 we'll have another opportunity to send people to Congress who will make the decision to prioritize this and to get this bill to the floor.

Host: One last question in closing for you. You were alongside Vice President Harris today in Tallahassee, FL. You heard her speech. I'd like your take on what you heard her say and what comes next, what you'd like to see out of the Biden administration.

LF: Well, I was so honored to join the Vice President today in Florida, which is like Texas, a real battleground in this fight. And I thought that her speech was empowering and invigorating for the many people who need to see that this issue is one that the administration is going to continue to fight for and fight in every way that it can. So certainly we just talked about some legislation that has a challenging path at the moment. Got through the House of Representatives, but there are other things the administration can do. And Vice President Harris talked about some of the steps that they were announcing today in terms of ensuring access to medications. And the White House has taken other steps. And so I'm very pleased that the White House has listened to people across the country as they have told their stories about what these draconian laws are doing to their families. And we heard stories today. A lot of those stories unfortunately come out of Texas. About the real challenges that people are facing when people with who are having miscarriages or going to the hospital and being refused care. That was a story the vice president told today about a woman from Austin. We know we've seen those stories in Houston as well. This is happening across our state and unfortunately in states across the country. And so I continue to hope that the administration will do everything it can to protect the programs. That protect access to care and also we're seeing a new frontier in Texas over birth control. And that's another issue that the vast majority of Texans support. The right to access to birth control, 88%. And yet when we voted in the House of Representatives last year, the vast majority of Republicans voted against the right to contraception. And we're seeing that in court cases in Texas. We're seeing that as the next frontier. And so I think it's really important for the administration to be paying. Wonderful attention and doing everything that it can. And I was very pleased with the Vice President's commitment today and really the way that she talked about this, which is this is an issue of our liberty, that's how I see it, that's how Texans see it and that's how we need to see it as Americans, that this is protecting the rights of Americans. And we need to make sure that we're protecting the rights of all Americans in this moment. And that's a commitment she made and the president has made again today.