Editor’s Note: Margaret Young is a graduate student at Sacramento State working as an intern at Planned Parenthood.

Is there any question that Judge Samuel Alito presents a danger to a woman’s constitutional right to privacy? Confirming Samuel Alito to the highest court in the land will change the face of justice in America.

He would replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor who was a key moderate conservative and the swing vote in many cases; replacing her with an ultra-conservative ideologue will unhinge balance in the court and may doom the fundamental right to privacy the constitution has guaranteed us all.

With a long judicial track record of hostility toward women’s rights, privacy rights and civil rights, it is undeniable that if given the chance he will continue his assault on the American people.

In a 1985 federal job application, Alito stated that “the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion,” and provided an outline for a legal and political strategy to overturn Roe v. Wade. That is why there is no question ?” for Planned Parenthood and myself ?” that Judge Alito should not be confirmed for a life-time appointment to the Supreme Court.

If confirmed to the Supreme Court, Judge Samuel Alito will undoubtedly dismantle women’s constitutional right to health and safety. While serving as a federal judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals he was the lone dissenter in the case of Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, voting to uphold the state’s spousal notification requirement for abortions.

If left up to Judge Alito, women in Pennsylvania would be required to notify their husbands before obtaining an abortion, placing many of them at risk for abuse or even death. In his ruling Alito stated that “perceived problems – such as economic constraints, future plans, or the husbands’ previously expressed opposition – that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion.”

A position that disregards the danger women face and in writing, Alito shows that protecting the most vulnerable women and guaranteeing their health and safety is not his priority. Is this the kind of person we want in one of the most powerful and influential positions in the nation? I don’t think so.

American’s today overwhelmingly support a women’s right to choose and confirming Judge Alito would jeopardize that right. With the evidence so strong against him it is no surprise that the nomination of the right-wing judge is so troubling to Planned Parenthood and Americans across the nation.

We want a Supreme Court justice who will uphold the previous Supreme Court decisions that have allowed Americans the right to make private choices about childbearing without government interference.