The Sammy Shuffle Continues

Armando over at The Daily Kos points out Alito’s convenient memory lapse when asked about the “Concerned Alumni” of Princeton, a group of which Alito was once a member. Atrios also notes Alito’s backpedaling on his support of strip searching young girls.

All in all, I would consider this to be a pretty pathetic show that should have closed long ago (early in November 2004, actually).

With this in mind, here is an excellent Guest Opinion that appeared in today’s Bucks County Courier Times from Linda K. Hahn, C.E.O. of Planned Parenthood of Bucks County.

At first blush it may seem odd to speak of Judge Samuel Alito’s legacy without knowing if he will be confirmed as the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. But the fact is he already has a legacy and a strategy to dismantle the protections guaranteed in the Roe v. Wade decision and the paper trail to prove it.

Twenty years ago, as a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department, Alito drafted a memo to the solicitor general floating the notion that two pending Supreme Court cases provided an “opportunity to advance the goals of overruling Roe v. Wade and in the meantime, of mitigating its effects.”

The phrase “mitigating its effects” exposes Alito’s strategy of making the Roe decision so dismantled as to dangerously limit its protections. Alito supported state-level restrictions such as those in the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act (Planned Parenthood v. Casey) that prevented doctors from providing confidential reproductive health services to young people, forced them to read state mandated scripts, often inaccurate and designed to dissuade or scare women about abortion, and he supported waiting periods prior to abortion procedures, which often necessitated more than one trip to a healthcare provider, a punitive inconvenience and additional expense, hardest for less affluent women and young women.

Here at Planned Parenthood in Bucks County, we have seen the difficulties these women face in overcoming these roadblocks. These obstacles do not influence their decision, nor do they benefit their health, but only make it more difficult to access the care they need.

As the lone dissenter in Planned Parenthood v. Casey before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Alito voted to uphold Pennsylvania’s husband notification requirement, which would have required a woman to notify her husband prior to obtaining an abortion. Justice O’Connor and the majority of her colleagues on the Supreme Court ruled the provision unconstitutional, holding that a state cannot give a man control over his wife, stating, “Women do not lose their constitutionally protected liberty when they marry.”

Alito’s record also reflects his desire for women to deal with the emotional distress, anxiety, and guilt as “part of the responsibility of moral choice” like a juror delivering a death sentence. He also promoted a radical idea that some common forms of birth control should be considered abortion, a view at odds with science and medicine. He supports that insurance companies should be permitted to exclude abortion as a covered medical procedure.

Alito is frankly so far outside the mainstream that his confirmation could radically transform the Supreme Court and create a direct threat to the health and safety of American women. Sandra Day O’Connor is a moderate without an agenda like Alito, and has often cast the all-important swing vote in cases of reproductive freedom. Alito shows open antagonism to women and to the rights and protections that we need. His nomination will turn the clock back and we just cannot let that happen in this country.

Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court makes clear that President Bush, rather than choosing a consensus nominee for this important lifetime appointment, is kowtowing to the ultraconservative fringe of his party. If confirmed, Alito’s far right judicial philosophy will impact the lives of women for generations – all to please a narrow political constituency.

Planned Parenthood urges all Americans not to sit idly by while we, as women, and all citizens lose civil rights. We must remind our senators, especially Sen. Arlen Specter, chair of the Judiciary Committee, that we hold these rights so dear. We should all call Sen. Specter and make our voices heard loud and clear.

I tried 202-224-4254 a couple of times (the office number in the Rayburn Building, I think), but I couldn't get through. I'll try again shortly.

Update 1/11: My bad - Specter is in the Hart building. I got through earlier today.