By Zoë Richards—
NBC News
The House Democrat who introduced a bill last year to enshrine abortion rights into federal law was one of more than 180 protesters arrested Thursday at a pro-choice rally near the Supreme Court.
California Rep. Judy Chu was participating in a civil disobedience rally on Capitol grounds, "where she was subsequently arrested along with other activists," her office said in a news release.
A spokesman for Chu, who described the rally as a "sit-in," said she was stopped around 1 p.m., adding that she
was the only member of Congress at the rally.
Rep. Judy Chu, a California Democrat, is arrested by Capitol Police at a protest for abortion rights, Thursday, June 30, 2022, in Washington.Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Chu noted on Twitter: “The decision to march today was an easy one:
I marched for the young rape survivor,
the woman who can't afford to travel to another state to access critical care, the mother with an ectopic pregnancy whose life is at stake. endangered.
I went out to march for all of us.”
Capitol Police said they arrested
181 people
for illegally blocking an intersection near the Capitol and the Supreme Court.
NBC News has asked Capitol Police for comment but has not received a response.
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The demonstration was led by various groups of activists for abortion rights, such as Planned Parenthood, Center for Popular Democracy and Working Families Party.
Chu introduced the Women's Health Protection Act in September, after the highest court allowed a new Texas law banning most abortions to remain in effect.
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The measure would codify the Roe vs.
Wade Act of 1973 into federal law "to protect a person's ability to determine whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy" and to protect the ability of health care providers to continue to provide abortion services, according to the text of the bill.
The House of Representatives passed the bill in September in a 218-211 vote, with one Democrat joining all Republicans in opposing the measure.
In a 46-48 vote in the Senate in February, the bill failed to pass the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a Republican-led filibuster.
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President Joe Biden said Thursday that he supports an "exception" to the Senate's filibustering rules to allow Democrats to pass abortion protections.
“I think we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law
, ”said the president at a press conference in Madrid after the NATO summit.
“And if filibustering gets in the way,” he added, “it should be an exception to filibustering to address the Supreme Court decision.”