Today President Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat of retiring Justice David Souter. If confirmed, Sotomayor would become the first Hispanic and third woman to serve on the High Court. Despite 17 years on the bench, Sotomayor has never directly decided whether a law regulating abortion is constitutional.
In Center for Reproductive Law & Policy v. Bush, she wrote an opinion that upheld the Mexico City Policy prohibiting federal funding of overseas abortions. In 2004, she ruled that a group of abortion clinic protesters could proceed with its suit against police officers who arrested them. Steven Waldman, writing on his BeliefNet blog, says, "In the two cases we know of that related partly to abortion, she took the position that pro-life groups would have wanted (albeit for reasons unrelated to Roe v. Wade)."
Mathew D. Staver, Founder and President of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented on the nominee: “While Sotomayor is not the easiest nomination the President was considering in his short list, she is by far not the most risky either. She has had a mixed history on cases. Her personality is not likely one that will persuade other Justices to her point of view. Her nomination does not change the makeup of the United States Supreme Court.” Liberty Counsel
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