In January 2006, Charles Fried was asked to testify before the US Senate about whether his former colleague Judge Samuel Alito would overturn the right to abortion if he were appointed to the Supreme Court.
As solicitor general of the United States back in 1989, Fried had argued on behalf of President Ronald Reagan that Roe v Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that enshrined Americans' right to terminate their pregnancies, was decided in error and should be overturned.
