Login
Forgot Password?

OR

Login with Google Login with Twitter Login with Facebook
  • Join
  • Profiles
  • Groups
  • SuicideGirls
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Shop
Vital Stats

hap

Springfield, IL

Member Since 2004

Followers 118 Following 164

  • Everything
  • Photos
  • Video
  • Blogs
  • Groups
  • From Others

Wednesday Jan 11, 2006

Jan 11, 2006
0
  • Facebook
  • Tweet
  • Email
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito's refusal to disavow his 1985 view that there is no constitutional right to abortion was attacked by Democrats as the Senate Judiciary Committee resumed his confirmation hearings.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, told Alito his testimony ``left in question the future'' of the high court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide.

``I am concerned that many people will leave this hearing with a question of whether you could be the deciding vote to eliminate the legality of abortion,'' Durbin told Alito.

Alito's nomination by President George W. Bush to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a key vote to uphold abortion rights, has drawn opposition from abortion-rights groups such as NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Alito testified yesterday that the views he expressed in a 1985 legal memo were those of ``a line attorney'' in President Ronald Reagan's administration. Today, Alito declined to give his current thinking, saying abortion ``is an issue that is involved in litigation now at all levels.''

For example, he cited a case before the Supreme Court this year that challenges a New Hampshire law requiring girls to obtain parental permission before obtaining abortions.

Durbin drew a contrast between Alito's reluctance to state his view on Roe and his willingness to endorse high court rulings that outlawed racially segregated schools and let married couples use birth-control devices. Alito replied that both the school desegregation and contraception cases were unlikely to be challenged before the Supreme Court.

Contraception Case

Durbin noted that the birth-control case, the 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut decision, recognized a right of privacy that was the basis of the high court's ruling on abortion.

``This is what troubles me,'' Durbin said. ``That you do not see the privacy rights of Griswold extended by the decision in Roe.''

Durbin asked Alito if Roe v. Wade was now ``the settled law of the land.''

``If `settled' means that it can't be re-examined, then that's one thing. If `settled'' means that it is precedent,'' then Roe ``is entitled to respect,'' Alito said. The justices' reaffirmation of the decision ``strengthens its value'' as a precedent, he said.

Alito repeated a statement of yesterday that he would keep an ``open mind'' if the court reconsidered whether the Constitution gives women a right to end their pregnancies.

More Abortion Questions

Alito's 1985 memos prompted questions yesterday from other Democratic senators, including Charles E. Schumer of New York and Dianne Feinstein of California.

Three Republican senators not on the committee, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, have voiced concern about the memo in which Alito outlined a strategy for persuading the high court to limit abortion rights and ultimately overturn Roe.

Today, Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn noted that Durbin opposed abortion rights earlier in his political career, quoting a 1989 statement by the Illinois senator.

``If he has the ability to change his mind on something he wrote in 1989, you have the ability'' to do the same, Coburn, who opposes abortion rights, told Alito. ``It's hard to be critical of what you said in 1985 when many of us have backtracked.''

More Blogs

  • 04.30.10
    0

    Friday Apr 30, 2010

    A couple clips from my FAVORITE show, This American Life. The Weiner…
  • 04.29.10
    0

    Thursday Apr 29, 2010

    Give me little drink...
  • 04.22.10
    0

    Thursday Apr 22, 2010

    Happy Earth Day...Weeds style!
  • 04.20.10
    0

    Tuesday Apr 20, 2010

  • 02.26.09
    0

    Friday Feb 27, 2009

    Some Tom Robbins for a Friday.
  • 02.26.09
    0

    Friday Feb 27, 2009

    This is why I hate clubs...
  • 06.10.06
    0

    Saturday Jun 10, 2006

    DETROIT A 16-year-old honor student from Michigan lied to persuade h…
  • 06.04.06
    0

    Sunday Jun 04, 2006

    Vince Welnick, a keyboardist who possessed a fluid and precise style …
  • 06.02.06
    0

    Friday Jun 02, 2006

    Hurricane season is here and the message remains the same: Be prepare…
  • 05.21.06
    2

    Monday May 22, 2006

    Children as young as 12 feel pressure to have sex.. CHILDREN lack …

We at SuicideGirls have been celebrating alternative pin-up girls for:

23
years
9
months
9
days
  • 5,509,826 fans
  • 41,393 fans
  • 10,327,617 followers
  • 4,593 SuicideGirls
  • 1,120,443 followers
  • 14,921,484 photos
  • 321,315 followers
  • 61,395,321 comments
  • Join
  • Profiles
  • Groups
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • Help
  • About
  • Press
  • LIVE

Legal/Tos | DMCA | Privacy Policy | 18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement | Contact Us | Vendo Payment Support
©SuicideGirls 2001-2025

Press enter to search
Fast Hi-res

Click here to join & see it all...

Crop your photo