National NOW Times >> Spring 2006  >> Article

Alito Confirmation Means Step Back for Women

by Campbell Roth, Publications Coordinator

NOW Membership Vice President Latifa Lyles (right) speaks to the media while NOW activsts protest at the Supreme Court on the day of the annual anti-choice march on Jan. 23, 2006. NOW members emphasized the tremendous danger Samuel Alito poses to reproductive rights.

Despite a courageous filibuster led by Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry (D-Mass.), the full Senate voted 58 to 42 on Jan. 31 to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's Supreme Court seat with extreme conservative Judge Samuel Alito, jeopardizing decades of gains for women.

The vote followed months of lobbying by NOW members and women's rights supporters to convince senators that Alito was the wrong judge at the wrong time for a high court that has for years protected our civil and human rights, and that senators who support women must do everything in their power to stop his confirmation.

Millions of constituent calls and emails urged senators to filibuster the nomination. And although the ultimate total of 42 votes against Alito would have been enough to sustain a filibuster (only 41 are required), too many senators decided that they could "split the difference" by voting against us on the filibuster, but then voting with us against Alito.

"Supporters of women's rights, civil rights and the separation of powers lost this pivotal vote because senators who should have been fighting for their constituents chose not to do so," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "But in the process we exposed the despicable agenda of the right wing, and their unrelenting determination to undermine our rights and liberties."

Ramifications of Alito on the Court

Speakers at NOW's annual Roe v. Wade Candlelight Vigil on Jan. 22 included NOW President Kim Gandy (Center) and National Congress of Black Women President E. Faye Williams (left).

George W. Bush nominated Alito to replace retiring justice Sandra Day O'Connor on Oct. 31, 2005, setting off a whirlwind of opposition from organizations opposed to the right wing's ideological slant. NOW was among the first groups to come out against the judge, who has been a consistent vote against women, workers and minorities in 15 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Even before that, as an official in the Reagan administration, Alito engineered a long-term plan to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The fight to block Alito's confirmation grew even more pressing on Jan. 18, when the Supreme Court sidestepped a substantive ruling in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, which brought into question the constitutionality of state abortion restrictions that do not provide an exception to protect the health of the pregnant woman. The Court's opinion, written by O'Connor, sent the case back to the lower court, where it could be appealed again to a Supreme Court on which Alito now sits.

"The issue of abortion will return to the Supreme Court," Gandy said. "And, given the current breakdown of the court, there is no reason to believe that the issue will be decided in women's favor."

In Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Democrats criticized Alito's unwillingness to affirm that Roe is settled law, his attempt to dismantle the Family and Medical Leave Act, and his disregard for claims of discrimination and harassment in school and on the job. The 10 Democrats on the committee cited these issues, as well as Alito's belief in unrestricted executive powers, when they unanimously voted against him at the close of the hearings. Nine of those 10 members also supported the filibuster. Only Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) voted against Alito in committee and then eschewed the filibuster that could have stopped his confirmation.

The Important Vote on Alito was the Filibuster Vote
A filibuster would have prolonged debate in the Senate until 60 senators voted for cloture, which is a formal end to the unlimited debate. The filibuster effort gained steam quickly once Senators Kennedy and Kerry decided to make the fight, going from two votes on Wednesday to 25 votes on the following Monday when a cloture vote (to end debate) was called and the filibuster was ended 72-25.

"Those 25 Democrats saw what the rest of us see: A judge who cares little for women's rights or for the ordinary people of this country, a judge who will side with the president even when he rides roughshod over the Constitution," Gandy said. "Those 25 Democrats stood up and said, 'If Sam Alito does not stand for justice, we will not stand for him.'"

"But too many of their colleagues, who should have been fighting for the rights of their constituents, fell to political pressure," Gandy said. "This is the first of many fights for the soul of our democracy, and we will eventually emerge victorious."