WASHINGTON (Feb. 1, 2003) -- NARAL and other pro-abortion groups are urging senators to filibuster to block confirmation of Miguel Estrada, President Bush's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. This court is generally considered to be second in importance only to the Supreme Court.

Miguel Estrada was nominated by President Bush nearly two years ago. The American Bar Association's review committee unanimously rated Estrada as "well qualified," but the Senate Democratic leadership blocked his confirmation until they lost their majority.

On January 30, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination on a 10-9 party-line vote. The full Senate will take up the nomination on Tuesday, February 4. Because a majority of senators would vote to confirm Estrada, pro-abortion groups are pushing for a filibuster to block confirmation.

In a January 31 e-mail alert, NARAL said that Estrada "has pointedly refused to answer the Senate's questions on his view of Roe v. Wade."

The pro-abortion group Feminist Majority said in a January 31 alert, "This is the first test of the filibuster strategy -- if we can block this vote, we will be sending a strong message to President Bush, telling him that we won’t stand by while he stacks the courts with right-wing, reactionary judges. Estrada has not demonstrated commitment to women’s rights or civil rights and has refused to answer questions about his commitment to abortion rights or basic civil rights."

If a filibuster does develop, which now seems likely, it will require 60 votes (out of 100 senators) to "invoke cloture" and end the filibuster. Such a vote could occur as early as Thursday, February 6, or at any time thereafter -- perhaps repeatedly.

There are currently 51 Senate Republicans. If all 51 Republicans vote for cloture, pro-cloture votes from nine Democrats will still be required. Therefore, Democratic senators especially -- regardless of their positions on abortion -- should be targeted for phone calls, e-mails, and faxes with messages expressing clear opposition to any filibuster against Miguel Estrada.

Here are the action items:

• Use the zip code finder or state map at the Legislative Action Center (www.nrlc.org) to call up information on your two U.S. senators, then send the recommended e-mail message or a similar message to each of them.
• The profile of a senator on the Legislative Action Center often includes a published fax number (use the tab for "Elected Officials," then the button for "Info" on a specific senator, and then read the "Contact Information"). Where this is available, fax the senator a letter with a message along the lines suggested below.
• Call the nearest in-state office of each senator and register your opinion in support of Miguel Estrada. Phone numbers for a senator's in-state offices are usually listed in a senator's profile information at the NRLC Legislative Action Center (again, use the tab for "Elected Officials," then the button for "Info"), or may be obtained from local information.
• It is also good to call the senators' Washington, D.C., offices. All senators' offices can be reached through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, but during big fights the switchboard is sometimes jammed, so it is better to obtain the direct number for each senator's office from the NRLC Legislative Action Center profiles or another source.
• Please e-mail responses received from any senator (especially any Democrat) to Legfederal@aol.com, or fax them to 202-347-3668.

VSHL is the Virginia affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.