WASHINGTON – As a Reagan administration lawyer in 1985, Samuel Alito made clear his hope that the Supreme Court would one day overturn a landmark ruling that established abortion rights.

Alito, now a Supreme Court nominee, argued against an all-out assault on the Roe v. Wade ruling. Instead, he recommended “mitigating its effects” by trying to persuade justices to accept state regulations on abortions.

While working as an assistant to the solicitor general, Alito called for the office, which represents the federal government before the Supreme Court, to help defend provisions of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act. Some of the act’s provisions had been overturned by a panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists v. Thornburgh.

Alito wrote in the memo, released by the National Archives on Wednesday, that “no one seriously believes that the court is about to overrule Roe v. Wade.”

He said, “By taking these cases, the court may be signaling an inclination to cut back. What can be made of this opportunity to advance the goals of bringing about the eventual overruling of Roe v. Wade and, in the meantime, of mitigating its effects?”

Alito was nominated by President Bush on Oct. 31 as the replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.