No Right To Abortion, Alito Wrote

(CBS/AP)  Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito boasted about his work arguing that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion" while trying to become a deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration, according to documents released Monday.

Alito, a federal appellate judge nominated by President Bush to the nation's highest court, was a young lawyer working for the solicitor general's office in 1985 when he applied for the position under Attorney General Edwin Meese.

As part of his application, Alito sent a document (.pdf) saying his work in the solicitor general's office had included helping "to advance legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly."

"I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government argued that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion," he wrote.

That sentence provides one of the first clear-cut statements attributed to Alito about abortion, which will be one of the main topics of his January confirmation hearing as retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's replacement.

"I think that it is more reason to question him closely at the hearing," said Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who will run Alito's Jan. 9 hearings as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Specter, an abortion rights moderate, said a lot of people have shifted their views about abortion over the years and that he has found Alito to have "a very heavy commitment to legal interpretation which might differ from his own personal views."

A key Republican moderate senator voiced concern with Alito's 1985 statements.

"As a pro-choice senator, I could not disagree more with the proposition that the Constitution does not guarantee a woman's right to have an abortion," said Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Me.

"Obviously, I want to know whether he still harbors this personal view and, if so, whether his service as a judge over the past 15 years will enable him to put aside his personal feelings and faithfully apply established precedent in a fair manner," said Snowe.

Bush picked Alito after White House counsel Harriet Miers withdrew her Supreme Court nomination when confronted by withering criticism by some conservatives.

"This may explain why the right wing expressed such enthusiastic support for Judge Alito after campaigning against Harriet Miers," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., one of several senators who will meet with Alito privately on Tuesday. "When he comes before the Senate, Judge Alito faces a heavy burden of demonstrating that he no longer holds these extremely troubling views and would bring an open mind and a real commitment to fundamental rights and freedoms."

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