♪ announcer: building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc7 news. kristen: hi. you are watching "getting answers." we as experts your questions every day at 3:00 to get your answers in real time the supreme court appears poised to strike down a landmark roe v. wade decision to guarantee the right to abortion since 1973. that is according to a draft opinion from february published online by politico that the chief justice confirmed as authentic this morning, while warning it is not final. demonstrations on both sides came swiftly. today, an abortion-rights opponent made a statement,

scaling 61 stories of salesforce tower, making it 1100 feet to the top, where officers took him into custody. meantime, the women's marches have hit the streets. hundreds of abortion rights activists are taking the fight directly to the supreme court plaza. san francisco's main rally will take place at 5:00 p.m. at market and powell streets. talking about the future of reproductive rights in the u.s., this ticket supreme court, congressional options, and her own personal story on abortion, congresswoman jackie spear. thank you for joining us. >> great to be with you. sad topic to be talking about. kristen: when you heard about the draft opinion was first leaked, surprised or not surprised? >> i was dumbfounded. i had such a visceral reaction to it, because i know the pain

and suffering that will ensue for young women and older women in this country. we forget that 57% of the women who get abortions or mothers, and clearly 25% of women before 45 will have an abortion. it is a safe medical procedure, a women have had for almost 50 years. to have that taken away from us, it is mind blowing. it is something i can't get my hands around. here in california, women and young girls will be safe because we have really strong protections across the country. 90% of the counties in this country do not have a clinic to

provide abortion services. kristen: once upon a time, you had an abortion. you tweeted last night that it saved your life. in more ways than one. how so? rep. speier: well, it was a painful experience, and certainly no one wants to have an abortion. when i was pregnant with our second child, 17 weeks, second trimester abortion, and it was failing fetus that had slipped from my uterus and efforts to try and get it slipped back into my uterus failed, so i made the decision along with my spouse to terminate the pregnancy. it was a horrible experience, but it was the right thing to do for me at that point in time.

every woman has the right to make that decision personally. it is about personal it to me, about having control over your and body. if you read this draft opinion by justice alito, he is basically saying this decision should be made by men and state legislatures across the country. the majority of members and state legislatures are men. that does not make any sense. so come because we have had it as a right for so long, i think a lot of women don't appreciate this is about to be taken away from us. kristen: speaking of men, you mentioned needing to be in impregnator responsibility. what does that mean? rep. speier: when we look upon

this, it is like a immaculate conception, something caused by the women. it takes two to create an embryo, yet we do not talk about any responsibilities other impregnator. my colleagues on the other decided that i'll are pro-birth, but not pro-life. they want this fetus to turn into a young infant, but the resources to provide for that infant, to make sure it has the health care and nutrition it needs to make it, is not something they want to deal with, yet so many abortions that are not allowed to happen in the with a poor woman without the resources having to care for this new infant. kristen: i want to be clear that if roe v. wade is struck down, it does not mean abortion would be banned across the country.

it will be kicked back to the states. in california, those protections are being expanded, but about half the states will make it illegal are almost illegal, and i understand states are moving in that direction. missouri has criminalized those seeking abortions in other states too. they can come to california to get an abortion, but then come back to missouri and be prosecuted? rep. speier: it is struck ionian. most of -- it is draconian. most of these states are promoting this because they want to ramp up the hatred that want to take this right away from women. there are 13 states that have trigger laws that says if roe v. wade is overturned, it will automatically be prohibited in those states. another 13 states have indicated

they would follow suit very quickly, so how the states help women from accessing abortions, summit six weeks, summit 15 weeks, and there will be this move to try to get to the lowest common denominator. as we have seen in texas and other states that have copycat ed that mall that creates a bounty for anyone assisting a woman getting an abortion. kristen: the content of this possible decision if it becomes final is what many have been criticizing, but your republican colleagues and chief justice roberts today focusing on the leak. senator mcconnell said what is unique about the date is this is the first time we've had somebody on the inside tried to attack the institution. what is your response to that? rep. speier: i think it is a lot

of hyperbole and effort to distract from what is happening here. this is a monumental rejection of women's rights in this country, and in an effort to tempt him the anchor in frustration, they are focusing on the leak. some have argued, maybe someone on the conservative side, who knows? who cares at this point? this is a decision being telegramed by virtue of the questions being asked by justices, and it raises another question, how the actual supreme court has become a political institution now. it is no longer this blind justice meted out by thoughtful individuals who are great scholars of the law. there are people who have been plucked out of the federalist

society and tested for whether or not they support a woman's right to choose, so this has been a full on campaign for decades to get to this place, where a minority of americans want to see a woman's right to have an abortion taken away from her. kristen: in fact, we have a graphic that shows a new abc news washington post poll, 58% of americans feel abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 70% said that decision should be left between a woman and he a woman and her daughter, only 42% saying it should be regulated by law. i think that is what shots people, the disconnect between the debate at the judicial level and the attitudes reflected by such a survey. ok, let's talk about what the options are. for now, the democrats do not have -- do have majorities in

the house and senate, but they are slim. what tools do you have? rep. speier: no tools. that is disturbing to hear, but we have passed the woman's health protection act in the house, introduced by congresswoman judy chu of southern california. it is in the house, senate, attempted to be taken up in february. it did not receive the requisite number of votes to cut of the debate. there will be efforts to take it up again. there are not 60 votes in the senate, therefore nothing will happen. that is one thing you can take to the bank. congress will not act. so, what do we do instead? i am calling on president biden to do as much as he can by executive order. i do not know all of the potential actions he could take,

but you have to start somewhere, and we do know that medication, abortion, the pill available, you have to jump through hoops and some states to get it, see a doctor, you have to have a prescription. it should be like other over-the-counter products and it should be made available. kristen: we are so out of time but i must ask you this, to two young women, perhaps our daughters, who may wonder because they are born with a uterus, does that mean they must accept less agency over their bodies, chart the course of their lives, what do you say to them? rep. speier: i would say to all our daughters and granddaughters, this is a time of personal action. this is a time when each of you are going to have to take up the mantle of your own destiny, and

your own destiny is linked to whether or not you have the freedom to make a decision, as to whether or not you are going to have an abortion, so it is a five-alarm fire, and it is really important for all of us to get engaged. kristen: congresswoman jackie speier, thank you so much. rep. speier: thank you. kristen: there is more to tackle on abortion from a medical perspective as well.

i had no idea how much i wamy case was worth. c call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪

kristen: the leaked draft of a supreme court opinion on roe v. wade has many women asking questions about health. joining us now is our special

correspondent. should roe v. wade get struck down and abortions become mostly illegal and about half of the states, do you have concerns as a medical doctor? >> listen, i do. i have concerns on two angles, on behalf of the medical community, those who are aware of the public health implications and with the data truly means. i am also concerned on behalf of all people who may become pregnant in an unfavorable situation or requires a personal assessment to know that their reproductive rights are in the hands of politicians. i am worried about them and i am echoing fears of those directly with women in these situations. it sets a terrible precedence about the ability of politicians to govern what happens in the scientific world and a uterus

and reproductive rights. it feels like a very depressing day. kristen: what do you feel would happen? >> right now, there are two dozen states that have some form of an abortion ban in place. we have these states that have triggers in states where if it were to be overturned, all of a sudden there would be an abortion ban that some affect that would disproportionately affect those who may not have the resources. those minority populations who may not be able to fly to a state to get an abortion. were not speaking about people who will say i don't want to be pregnant and get an abortion. that downplays what happens. it is the conversations i hear from my colleagues about how incredibly difficult it is for families to make this decision, in which a mom's life is at stake or you find out your growing baby, your fetus has an

anomaly after 15 weeks. what do you do in that situation. the hypotheticals are incredibly troubling, especially in a state like mississippi or ohio that wants to outlaw biz. ohio is especially egregious saying at conception a zygote is a human being and takes nothing into account, the mother's health, the family situation. it is very troubling. kristen: what about when is fetal viability as a cup off-line? it seems like many states have cut off lines well below that, like very early in the pregnancy before many women find out? >> they do. if we just take a step back away from the politics and look at the science, some states say that abortion will be cut off when we detect a heartbeat, and sometimes the heartbeat at six weeks to eight weeks of

pregnancy, there is an electrical impulse in a tube that would develop into the heart, so this electrical impulse is not necessary to heartbeat we define and look at later on. it is way before that. it becomes a difficult argument, is that healthy? is that an electrical impulse? and that depends on how quickly someone can get an ultrasound and what the technology looks like in that particular state. there are so many shades of gray. kristen: as science advances and lowers the viability line, it limits the choices of women more. do you see medication-based abortion pills becoming popular, and is that an alternative? >> i have heard from colleagues practicing in texas that would is happening with contraception

and early-stage abortion medications, and i do not want to go into specifics, but it is a conversation happening. there are conversations where people are very early in pregnancy, and if you say i can't be pregnant for a particular reason, i need to talk with my doctor about this, you need to talk with the doctor, get an auction sound, and this means you have insurance to get this done, in that tiny time window. the people who talk about being pro-life and want to restrict abortions, i would respectfully ask about child mortality, child where fair, everything that dictates the quality of life after a child is born? kristen: mortality is higher here in the u.s. than pure nations, right? rep. speier: we have the highest -- >> we have the highest maternal mortality under developed countries. it is pathetic. the fact that were not focusing on that in the vulnerable populations after they get

pregnant, and instead focusing on abortions at the highest level, it is a complete separation. i look at the governor of mississippi saying they want to project all children's lives, when they ranked 50th in terms of child where fair, looking at education, community, health, and more. that is a complete disparity between fact and reality and what the focus is on. kristen: there is so much more we can talk about, but we are out of time today. this issue continues and we will have a conversation another time. >> thank you. kristen: coming up next, companies are leaving san francisco in the wake of the pandemic, so why is this happening? the reporter from the san francisco standard as

kristen: throughout the pandemic , we have tracked the way workplaces have been changing as

we build a better bay area. some are closing local offices, and as we first reported here last week, paypal is giving up its offices on market street. our media partners at the san francisco standard are doing a deep dive into this exodus. joining us now is a reporter from the san francisco standard. name some of the companies that are cutting back on office space? >> airbnb just announced last week that it was moving to a fully distributed remote structure. that is not a surprise for people tracking real estate moves. it has ditched 400,000 square feet across the city over the past several years. they are joining square, which delisted san francisco as its headquarters location and has moved to a fully distributed structure as well.

go ahead. kristen: i was just, you know, hearing you talk about distributed work, people working from home and not necessarily coming into the office, reducing the need for office space, but is it more san francisco-specific in that our company is suffering a bigger share of companies doing that? >> if you look at san francisco compared to other markets across the country when it comes to return from office, san francisco is near the lowest level, around 35% of workers have returned in san francisco, and because of the greater share of technology companies which are formulated and makes it easier to stick to remote work, we have been kind of the poster child for a lot of this transition. kristen: got it. is that the main reason san francisco is suffering a bigger share of this, or there are other factors specific to our city as well?

>> when you talk to the folks working on these issues, they blame business issues like taxes , but some of the street conditions in public safety issues that have been top of mind for a lot of residents.i spoke with some of the small businesses affected, and they are complaining about that as well. kristen: whatever the cause, what is the effect on the office vacancy rate for the rent? >> office vacancies are 25%, the highest level ever recorded in san francisco, higher than the dot com crash and the great recession. rents have dipped 15%, but not as much as you would expect, because landlords are hoping things will be turning around, so they are keeping prices high for the time being. kristen: a lot of workers like to live near where they worked, but i wonder whether this is

affecting the residential market, do we know? >> yeah, residential rent have recovered. san francisco used to be the highest residential rents, somewhere number three, still quite pricey, but it has been impacted somewhat. kristen: how would this affect san francisco in the near and long-term? >> short-term, it is affecting businesses downtown, the restaurants, bars, dry cleaners, businesses of that nature rely on the office traffic. i spoke with some business owners who say instead of the workweek being monday through friday, it is more like tuesday through thursday, and you can imagine two days less of revenue impacting those businesses. kristen: we only have 30 seconds, but what is the city doing to help keep these companies in place? >> the mayor and her partners in

the business community have been trying to bring businesses back. i attended an event last week at google's newest office, where she talked about the importance of bringing office workers back in creating more vibrancy, the buzzword being used by a lot of policymakers. kristen: keep us posted and bring back the ravens and see -- vibrancy. thank you. to watch more segments feature sing i'm susan and i'm 52 and i live in san francisco, california. i have been a sales and sales management professional my whole career. typical day during a work week is i'm working but first always going for a run or going to the gym.

i love reading. i love cooking healthy. it's super important to me. i was noticing that i was just having some memory loss. it was really bothering me. so i tried prevagen and it started to work for me. i wish i had taken prevagen five or ten years ago. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

us on this interactive show, "getting answers to pee world news tonight with david

nor is . tonight, the future of roe versus wade. the supreme court confirming the leak is real. the draft ruling that would overturn roe versus wade. so, what can this country expect in the final ruling from the court in the coming weeks? tonight, demonstrators on both sides of the issue at the court. the unprecedented leak. the draft majority opinion written by justice samuel alito, saying the 19734 case was wrongly decided and, quote, most be overruled. tonight, chief justice john roberts calling the leak an egregious breach of trust. what does this mean for women if roe versus wade overturned? the 26 states that would likely quickly ban abortion. and the new abc news poll tonight, where do americans stand on this