Sotomayor’s Thin Abortion Record Puts Dem Senators In A Bind
Democratic Senators have a problem. How will they handle the fact that Sonia Sotomayor’s position on Roe v. Wade is so far a big unknown?
That’s the question that needs to be asked in the wake of news reports this morning saying pro-choice groups are worried she may not be a reliable vote to uphold Roe. Sotomayor has never directly ruled on whether the Constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion.
This gap in her record puts Dem Senators in a bind. Pro-choice groups are mounting a campaign to press Senators to insist at her confirmation hearing that Sotomayor clarify her position on Roe. If these Senators punt, they’ll anger those groups and open themselves up to GOP charges of inconsistency. And if they do ask, they have to weigh how hard to press Sotomayor for full clarification.
Even more dicey: The possibility that Sotomayor could give an unsatisfactory answer. While many have assumed she’s reliable on Roe, there’s precedent for surprising turns from Supreme Court justices, such as David Souter’s 1990s vote to uphold abortion rights. Indeed, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs conceded yesterday that Obama had not directly asked her in their interviews whether she supports the Roe ruling.
No one expects Dem Senators to not support Sotomayor. But if she does give an unsatisfactory answer to the Roe question, it could suddenly become a lot more dicey to do so. This one’s worth watching.
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There is no way Sotomayor would overturn Roe. I’m sure this question was asked of her early in the vetting process. I am even skeptical Roberts or Scalia would vote to overturn Roe. That it is even talked about in such breathless terms is silly.
They’ll ask her.
Which is stupid cause you cannot make a decision on an issue in a vacuum if you’re a judge.
Lola – I’m sure you’re right. There are not many legal people running around convinced Roe was wrongly decided. There really aren’t. Those who do are totally dedicated to getting rid of it.
One more technical issue that absolutely drives me nuts – drop down ads and menus that are so sensitive you trigger them accidentally and they drop down over what you’re reading or writing and then you can’t get rid of them.
I hate drop down and roll over ads and menus and you have a couple -
Tena, agreed. I can’t stand those. Lemme take it up with powers that be.
This has worried me from the beginning. All we really know is that she’s a practicing Catholic, which means that the authoritarian bishops will go ballistic if she shows any sign of supporting abortion rights. You know: withholding communion, threat of excommunication, etc. There are already five Catholics on the court, and I think it was a big mistake for Obama to put up number six, even if she’s great in every other way (and I’m not sure she is).
Virginia -on the other hand, as a Catholic who supports women’s rights, she is a valuable asset on a court with other Catholics. You insult Sotomayor by suggesting she can’t think for herself and it more interested in what the Pope says about things than Learned Hand – and I don’t think that’s true. Most Catholic jurists put their religion to one side because they know they are dealing with the law, not dogma.
Hey Greggy – just for grins – you know the worst drop down ad of all time? It was an Oklahoma tourism ad that hotmail had on the email page and it would drop down and start playing music and a vid about Oklahoma no matter how hard you tried to keep it from doing that and you could not close it and it would be right over the email you were writing. I could have cheerfully kicked Oklahoma right out of the union and kicked Bill Gates right in the balls for that one.
O I hated that ad with a passion!
Here is what I look at as the reality of the situation. Conservatives have controlled bench for years and haven’t come close to overturning Roe V Wade. If they wanted to do so Sotomayor wouldn’t be able to stop them even if she was the most pro Planned Parenthood Justice in the world. They have the votes. But the truth is they know that they will be on the wrong side of history if they ever overturn that verdict and so it will never happen. The problem for me is that Sotomayor is likely to give an honest answer and that means there may be a case that comes before the court that makes a compelling argument for overturning Roe V Wade. Should she say she would not even consider relevant statutes and case law and no matter what refuse to over turn it? Thats the surest way to get her labeled as an activist. If she says she would review the case and judge it on its merits and won’t make a knee jerk reaction will that make pro choice groups push to not have her confirmed? I swear Dems will find a way to f*ck up a wet dream. We all know Republicans can’t stop her nomination and if they do try it will hurt them in the Hispanic community but instead of letting that play itself out now we want to be seen as potentially opposing her over one issue, something that will SURELY not play well in the Hispanic community where a large section of them are Catholic. I don’t think these people have thought this through. What do they think their end game is? Oppose President Obama’s historic selection over Roe V Wade? Hell no, I don’t think so. It has zero chance of being overturned anyway.
Virginia – most of the bishops of whom you speak are organizationally tied into the religious right activists in the GOP. They can be counted on to mount a campaign against this nominee in any event. They are loud but the majority of Catholics hold differing and more moderate views. It will not be a bad thing to have them further marginalized within the broader Catholic community.
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good line from Yglesias this morning…
“if conservatives continue to be unable to restrain themselves from loud whining about how society unfairly tilts the odds in favor of Puerto Rican girls growing up in housing projects in the Bronx, they’ll presumably continue their current trajectory of alienating Hispanic voters.”
Agree with sg on the future of Roe. A serious move to overturn that decision would have electoral consequences for the GOP which even they understand. The abortion issue is an electoral and activism tool but any benefits gained from that use will be reversed if the stated goal came to fruition.
And Steve Benen has a couple of pertinent quotes from the Estrada nomination…
“Trent Lott — Trent Lott! — said of Democrats, “They don’t want Miguel Estrada because he’s Hispanic.” When Florida Sen. Bob Graham (D) voted against Estrada, none other than Rush Limbaugh ran a statement on his website with a headline that read, ‘Bob Graham’s Crusade Against Hispanic Judges.’”
And Think Progress has a wonderful passage from Alito’s nomination hearings where he does the empathy and ‘the influence of my ethnic heritage on how I see the world and make decisions’ thing…
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/28/flashback-alito-on-his-background/
And, for you folks who haven’t seen it, a very interesting piece on how Sotomayor’s nomination might have a significant consequence re Florida…
http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/
Perhaps, we might rephrase all the above to “**** you, Rove.”
Bernie
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And remember that Estrada had never even been a judge. Not EVER.
It’s so stupid that one issue can make or break.
sg- How many caucasians have never been judges? It’s like way more. We wonder why?
Tena et al – I hope you are right that this will “marginalize” the right wing bishops, but I can’t say I’m sanguine that this will happen. The Church hierarchy seems more and more determined to go back to a pre-JFK era in which it was assumed that any Catholic in the political shpere would toe the Vatican line and codify Catholic morality into law. Look what they did to Kerry in 2004. I suspect that without the bishops Kerry might have squeaked out a victory and saved us from four more years of the George and Dick show. That’s awfully hard to forgive. (btw I come from a super-Catholic family and had the whole nuns to Jesuits education, so I know something about what I speak.)
Bernie
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I am talking strictly as far as Rush Limbaugh’s comments. He said it was racism to oppose Estrada when his record is far less accomplished than Sotomayor. But now he says its racist to support her nomination.
Virginia – you’re clearly closer to this community than I am. My reading on the recent Notre Dame issue suggested that the bishops to whom you refer are in a minority (of US bishops). Do you have other data to contradict this? I do understand that they have some influence but it doesn’t seem to be terribly significant given polling I’ve seen of US catholics’ political and religious matters.
The GOP set about some years ago to gather up as much of the Catholic vote as possible (traditionally Dem) just as they did with the jewish community and with african americans. The main tools here were the social issues and Israel. In that process, they established institutions that provided liaison and organizational frameworks within those communities and attached to the GOP. Of course, your church is pretty serious about the abortion issue, perhaps particularly under this present Pope. But in Canada, for example, the bishops there are not nearly so vocal and actively anti-left as in the US. That’s a consequence of what the GOP strategists set up here. All of which is to say, don’t let the volume of their shouting exaggerate the real effects they have/don’t have.
sg – I understood. I was just trying my hand at rightwing ‘logic’. These turkeys have absolutely no working principles outside of maintenance of power and privilege. I suppose our task is, as you did above, help with the local distribution of bullshit detectors.
I really want someone that will decide cases on the merits of the case. I hope this “wise Latina” will do just that. – and i hope she is not a rubber-stamp for the corporate crowd & the emminent domain people.
GM enters backruptcy next week… our boys in DC are gonna help out. To quote the NYT – this is like a cocaine dealier helping a crack addict.
Hope you sold your GM stock a long time ago… also – who here plans to buy a GM made car to help out? Anyone??? Anyone own one? … I do.
Bob – you’ve just done serious damage to your credibility
The NY Times reports Obama didn’t ask her about Roe. What I want to know: why didn’t he ask?
It doesn’t seem plausible that Obama wouldn’t have asked her about her abortion position. Even if he himself doesn’t much care about the issue, he’d want to know, since it would be sure to come up.
On the other hand, it’s certainly plausible that he’d claim he hadn’t asked her.
It isn’t just a question of overturing Roe v. Wade. As we’ve seen, if you pile enough restrictions on abortion rights you can make it a de facto impossibility to obtain one. Ree v. Wade can be hollowed out without actually being overturned. Where would Sotomayor be when it comes to those kinds of restrictions?
I think there is a fundamental understanding by most on the left as to the U.S. Bishops’ motives. The Catholic Church has taught that abortion is an intrinsic evil since the time of the Apostles. As leaders of the Church, the Bishops are bound to oppose abortion and fight against it by any means possible. Because of the radical, abortion-on-demand position of the Democratic Party in America, the Bishops have no choice but to ally with the Republicans in pursuit of this goal. Their moral principles guide their political affiliations, not the other way around. I should also point out that Rudy Giuliani (a Republican) has also been criticized by the U.S. Bishops for his pro-abortion position. Which party holds power in Washington isn’t a concern of the Bishops, but ending the “constitutional right” to abortion-on-demand during all 9 months of pregnancy is!
Yes I think her NONACTION on abortion should be grounds for he to drug through the mud so a few can get there jollies. My god when will we learn!!! Do not allow those who swing between the tea bags trying to get IT from SH the back side. Just get some TP and clean it up and go from there. If some Democrats need to abort this nomination. If asked by one of the male Senators “What do you feel about ABORTION ?” She should say I believe with all my heart that YOU should not get one. And you should not have the right to tell anyone else to have one. It the woman’s body and you should stay out of it.
AND this is a dude typing.