By Thomas Ferraro
Reuters
Tuesday, November 8, 2005; 8:27 PM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito said on Tuesday that the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion "deserved great respect" but did not say how he would rule on it, a Democratic senator said.

Emerging from a meeting with President George W. Bush's conservative candidate for the high court, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut said he was encouraged by Alito's comments about the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling.

"He basically said ... that Roe was precedent on which people, a lot of people, relied, and had been precedent now for decades and therefore deserved great respect," Lieberman told reporters.

Alito, a federal appeals judge the past 15 years, did not say if he would uphold the ruling if confirmed by the U.S. Senate to the Supreme Court, Lieberman said.

Abortion is certain to be a major topic at Alito's Senate confirmation hearing, which is set to begin on January 9. Nominees traditionally decline to say how they would rule on controversial cases that could come before them.

Conservatives have rallied behind Alito, believing that he would move the nine-member court to the right on abortion and other hot-button matters.

A leading abortion-rights group voiced doubts about Alito's comments on Tuesday, saying they fell far short of the assurances the American public deserves.

"Mr. Alito is making the standard political move of 'going centrist' after his nomination," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Keenan cited the 1991 confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas.

"Clarence Thomas told the Senate that he respected precedent, then he voted to overturn Roe one year after he was confirmed to a lifetime position on the Supreme Court," she said.

If confirmed, Alito, 55, would replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, a moderate conservative who often has been the court's swing vote.

Of particular concern to many abortion-rights groups is that as an appeals court judge, Alito argued to uphold a Pennsylvania law requiring women seeking an abortion to inform their husbands. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the law.

Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a leading foe of abortion, hailed Alito as an "outstanding jurist" after his own meeting with the nominee. But Brownback also said he was concerned how he would rule on abortion on the Supreme Court.

Brownback said although Alito has voiced respect for Supreme Court precedent, like Roe v. Wade, "It looks like to me that he is open to review cases as he should be as a judge."

Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican and a backer of abortion rights, asked Alito about abortion during her meeting and seemed pleased by his answers.

"He assured me that he had tremendous respect for precedent and his approach is to not overturn cases due to a disagreement with how they were originally decided," Collins said.

Collins, Brownback and Lieberman, like many senators, said they have not decided whether they will back Alito.

Many special-interest groups from the right and left have begun campaigns for and against Alito.

Some liberal groups have challenged his record on civil rights, saying he has applied an excessively narrow interpretation of them as an appeals court judge.

Lieberman said Alito told him "he felt that the civil rights legislation adopted in this country was some of the best legislation that has been ever adopted ... because of the principle of equality is so important in this country."

"But that doesn't mean that everyone who brings a racial discrimination case ought to win the case," Lieberman quoted Alito as saying.