Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s appointee to the Supreme Court, refused to make her opinion on abortion explicitly known during four days of Senate confirmation hearings, despite several attempts by senators on both sides of the issue to sound her out. She dodged various questions by Senators Tom Coburn (R, Okla) and Arlen Spector (D, Penn.), stating only that she considered Roe. v. Wade a settled precedent. She also told Sen. John Cornyn (R, Tex.) that Obama and his officials had asked her no questions about her views “on any specific legal issue.” When confronted by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R, S.C.) about the five pro-abortion amicus curiae briefs released by the Puerto Rican Legal Defence and Education Fund during her time there as an active board member, she denied ever having reviewed them, saying only, “I did know that the fund had a health care docket that included challenges to certain limitations on a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy under certain circumstances.” NARAL Pro-Choice America was satisfied enough to officially endorse Sotomayor. In a joint statement, two of its leaders said, “We took into consideration the significant and strong support her nomination has garnered from some of our most committed pro-choice allies in the Senate, as well as President Obama’s consistent record of support for Roe v. Wade and his established record of nominating to key posts individuals who share his principles.”
