Cranston to Vote ‘No’ on Souter Confirmation : Supreme Court: The majority whip is the author of an abortion bill pending in the Senate. He says the nominee’s views on the issue are too vague.

Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), the assistant Senate majority leader, said Sunday that he will vote against confirming David H. Souter for the Supreme Court, on grounds that the nominee’s views on abortion and related issues are too vague.

In remarks prepared for delivery today on the Senate floor, Cranston said: “I cannot support a nominee who refuses to acknowledge that a woman’s right to choose to terminate a pregnancy is a fundamental right, or that the right of individuals, married or unmarried, to use contraceptives to prevent a pregnancy, is a matter of settled law.

“I cannot support a nominee who regards these issues as open questions.”

Cranston, the author of an abortion rights bill pending in the Senate, supported the statements of two abortion-rights advocates who last week urged the senators to reject Souter on the same grounds.

Faye Wattleton, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation, and Kate Michelman, director of the National Abortion Rights Action League, told the Senate Judiciary Committee they could not accept Souter’s unwillingness to endorse a woman’s right to choose abortion.

The committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to recommend to the full Senate that Souter’s nomination be confirmed. A favorable vote is expected. Cranston is not a member of the panel.

In his prepared remarks, Cranston noted that Supreme Court appointments are permanent and said the nomination of Souter, 51, is particularly important because he would replace Justice William J. Brennan Jr., a liberal who served nearly 34 years before his recent retirement.

“The individual who succeeds Justice Brennan may serve for two and perhaps three decades, affecting the lives of millions of Americans and generations of future Americans,” Cranston said.

The nominee’s career as New Hampshire attorney general, state trial judge, New Hampshire Supreme Court justice and federal appellate judge, Cranston said, shows that “there is no question that he possesses the intellect and character appropriate for a judicial office.”

But, he said, Souter has “no prior record of . . . views on constitutional issues,” and thus the senators are forced to judge him on three days of testimony during which he refused to take a firm stand on several key issues, including abortion.