Arlen Specter: “Judge Alito came under very extensive questioning on the issue of a woman's right to choose because of his work on a…”

“Judge Alito came under very extensive questioning on the issue of a woman's right to choose because of his work on a brief on the Thornburgh case where he advocated not reversal of Roe v. Wade but cut back on some of the provisions, and because of a statement which he had made in 1985 when applying for a position with the Federal Government where he expressed the view that the Constitution did not protect the right to an abortion. Judge Alito testified at length that he has an open mind on this subject. I think it is fair to say that when a comment is made by a lawyer in an advocacy capacity that it represents the view of a client on a position taken and not a personal view. With respect to the statement that he made about his view of the Constitution in 1985, he has since gone to great lengths to analyze the Supreme Court's decisions on the issue of a woman's right to choose and has made assurances that he has an open mind on the subject. He was questioned extensively on this issue. I led off with it for 20 minutes on my first round of questioning. And Judge Alito expressed his regard for stare decisis, the Latin expression for let the decision stand. He commented that he agrees with the position of Chief Justice Rehnquist on the Miranda case involving suspects' rights on statements and confessions.…”