“After a week of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, it is more clear than ever that Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. would turn the Supreme Court sharply to the right, putting women’s rights, civil rights and our right to privacy at grave risk. Rather than continuing the legacy of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a mainstream conservative, he would alter the balance on the Court and undermine decades of progress toward equality and justice.

From family leave to reproductive rights to basic fairness, Judge Samuel A. Alito’s testimony did more to deepen than to alleviate our concerns.

In three days of testimony, he said nothing to distance himself from his inflammatory statements that the Constitution does not protect a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices, or to suggest he would follow long-settled law on this issue.

And his repeated assertions — at odds with the legislative history — that the Family & Medical Leave Act contained no evidence of sex discrimination in state medical leave practices is a disturbing indication that he would vote to deny five million state workers their rights under the FMLA if he is confirmed.

Confirmation of Judge Alito is a risk our nation simply cannot afford to take. We urge every Senator to put partisan considerations aside and vote no to this nominee. America will lose if Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. is confirmed to a lifetime appointment on our highest court.”