The Senate on Monday stopped an attempt by some Democratic senators to filibuster the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court by voting 72-25 to end floor debate on the nominee, the Washington Post reports. The chamber on Tuesday is expected to confirm the judge to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (Babington, Washington Post, 1/31). President Bush in October 2005 nominated Alito to replace O'Connor, who has said she will remain on the Supreme Court until her successor is confirmed. Alito during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings earlier this month said his statement in a 1985 job application to become deputy assistant to former Attorney General Edwin Meese that he "personally believes very strongly" that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion" was a "true expression" of his "views at the time." However, he added that long-standing Supreme Court decisions deserve respect and that he would approach abortion-rights cases "with an open mind." The judiciary committee last week voted to recommend Alito for confirmation by the full Senate. Some Democrats during full Senate debate, which began on Wednesday, said Alito has a history of opposing a woman's right to abortion, and Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) called for a filibuster of the nomination but did not have the backing of the Democratic leadership (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/27). Fifty-three Republican senators and 19 Democrats on Monday voted for the cloture motion to end debate on Alito's nomination, while 24 Democrats and independent Sen. James Jeffords (Vt.) voted against the motion and three senators abstained (Savage, Boston Globe, 1/31). The vote "all but guarantees" that Alito will be confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday, with 57 senators -- 53 Republicans and four Democrats -- having said they will vote to confirm the judge, the Baltimore Sun reports (Zeleny, Baltimore Sun, 1/31). Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), Jeffords and most of the other 40 Democrats in the Senate are expected to vote against the nomination, and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) is publicly undecided, according to the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer (Holland, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/31).

Washington Post Examines Justice Kennedy's Potential Role in New Court
The Washington Post on Tuesday examined how Alito's confirmation could make Justice Anthony Kennedy -- a "conservative who has occasionally voted with liberals" on cases involving issues such as abortion rights -- the Supreme Court's "least predictable member." O'Connor for much of her 24 years on the court "wielded the swing vote on a split court," often siding with the liberals on the court in abortion-rights cases. However, some court experts expect Alito to be part of a "four-vote conservative bloc" with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, the Post reports. According to the Post, the new court soon is expected to meet in a closed-door session to discuss whether it will consider an appeal to reinstate the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act (S 3), which has been struck down by lower courts because it does not include a health exception (Lane, Washington Post, 1/31). The act, which was signed by Bush in November 2003, bans "an abortion in which a physician deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living, unborn child's body until either the entire baby's head is outside the body of the mother, or any part of the baby's trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother and only the head remains inside the womb, for the purpose of performing an overt act (usually the puncturing of the back of the child's skull and removing the baby's brains) that the person knows will kill the partially delivered infant." The court earlier this month made no comment as to whether it will hear the appeal filed by Bush administration attorneys in September 2005 (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/20).

Washingtonpost.com Chat
Kate Michelman, former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America and author of "With Liberty and Justice for All: A Life Spent Protecting the Right to Choose," and Kate O'Beirne, Washington editor for the National Review and author of "Women Who Make the World Worse and How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports," are scheduled to answer questions in a Washingtonpost.com online chat on the Supreme Court and some of the controversial issues facing women on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. A transcript of the chat will be available online.