Gilgoff: Sotomayor staying mum on abortion views

Dan Gilgoff reports:

On the abortion front, I'm struck by two dynamics at work in Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings. One: Republicans are attacking the idea of a constitutional right to abortion with a unity and forthrightness not seen in years, grilling Sotomayor on how the Constitution could be construed to contain such a right.

Two: As Republicans lift their voices on the issue, Sotomayor is evading all questions about her personal views on abortion. While recognizing that she considers Roe v. Wade to be settled law, Sotomayor has gone out of her way to obscure her personal position, disavowing signs that abortion rights supporters and opponents have taken as evidence of her pro-abortion rights views.

... Sotomayor is not going to vote to overturn Roe. But her obfuscating on other abortion-related questions raises questions about how she'd rule on restrictions on late-term abortions and on consent laws. And those are the kind of cases—as opposed to direct challenges to Roe—that would be more likely to come before her on the Supreme Court.

I'm sure her team of advisors have taken note that her personal position on abortion is seriously out-of-touch with mainstream America. So much for that oath to tell the whole truth to the American people. How can she single-out abortion (and its many related issues) as a topic upon which she has no opinion besides the "settled law" of the land? As a Supreme Court justice she will be charged with making the law of the land!

Furthermore, there is clearly interest on this topic. The AP's story on the subject was the top story on Yahoo! News yesterday (the largest internet news portal in the U.S.).

I'm looking forward to today's testimony by Charmaine Yoest at Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings. She's the lone representative from a pro-life organization to be invited.