WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Tuesday that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito had distanced himself from a memo he wrote 20 years ago that said "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the only female member of the committee that will vote on the nomination, said she asked the appeals court judge about the memo."What [Alito] said was, 'It was different then. I was an advocate seeking a job. It was a political job,'" the California Democrat said. She said Alito said 1985 was a "very different" time, when he was an advocate for the Reagan administration. As a judge for 15 years, he looks at legal matters differently."I don't give heed to my personal views. What I do is I interpret the law,'" she said, quoting the 55-year-old judge from New Jersey.Feinstein said she believed Alito was sincere.She said they discussed Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that legalized abortion, and that Alito said he had been through "many reviews" of the case but did not say he accepted it as legal precedent. In 1985, Alito was working in the solicitor general's office, where he helped prepare cases to be argued in court on behalf of the government. His memo was part of an application to become deputy assistant attorney general. In the memo, he writes, "I am and always have been a conservative and an adherent to the same philosophical views that I believe are central to this administration." (Read an excerpt from the document)Later he writes about his accomplishments, "I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion."He notes that as a federal employee, "I have been unable to take a role in partisan politics. However, I am a lifelong registered Republican."Democratic senators said Alito's comments in his job application troubled them."I'm concerned about documents that show an eager and early partisan in the ranks of ideological activists in his party's extreme right wing," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, the Senate Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat, said. "Judge Alito has many questions to answer during his upcoming hearings before the Judiciary Committee.""This puts a much stronger onus on Judge Alito to answer questions on this subject," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, told the Associated Press. Schumer called the 1985 document "the strongest statement we've seen from a nominee on this very controversial subject for a long time." Liberal groups were also quick to criticize Alito's memo."Combined with his judicial record, Judge Alito's letter underscores our concern that he would vote to turn back the clock on decades of judicial precedent protecting privacy, equal opportunity, religious freedom, and so much more," said Ralph Neas, president of People For the American Way. "And it is further evidence that if Samuel Alito is confirmed to replace Sandra Day O'Connor, he will shift the Supreme Court dramatically to the right for decades to come."The documents are among dozens of pages released Monday by the Reagan and Bush presidential libraries. Alito did get the job he applied for, and went on to serve as U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 1987 to 1990. He then became a federal appeals court judge, his current job.He was nominated last month to take O'Connor's seat. Abortion is certain to become a key issue in confirmation hearings.As a judge, he dissented in 1991 as his appeals court threw out a Pennsylvania provision requiring a married woman seeking an abortion to notify her husband. The Supreme Court later upheld that ruling.Alito has told senators in private meetings in recent days he has "great respect" for precedent, including the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. But he would not say whether he would continue to uphold that ruling.CNN's Bill Mears contributed to this report.