Sonia Sotomayor Questionnaire From Senate Shows More Pro-Abortion Evidence

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jun 8, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Sonia Sotomayor Questionnaire From Senate Shows More Pro-Abortion Evidence

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 8
, 2009

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Last week, White House officials submitted the official response to the Senate to a comprehensive judicial questionnaire given to Sonia Sotomayor by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The answers to the panel provide more circumstantial evidence that Sotomayor, the Supreme Court nominee, is pro-abortion.

Committee chairman Pat Leahy, a pro-abortion Democrat from Vermont, and Sen. Jeff Sessions, a pro-life Alabama Republican, crafted the questions.

The survey response contains quotes from a speech Sotomayor gave in June 2001 to the graduating class of Brooklyn Law School.

During the speech, Sotomayor complained that "In 1996, Congress prohibited lawyers receiving federal legal services monies from taking on class-action lawsuits or lawsuits involving abortion."

She applauded the law school for having "redoubled their efforts to help address the need created by this legislation. These efforts, and the volunteer efforts of other law schools, bar groups and lawyers in private law firms, are not enough. The need is very great."

Ed Whelan, a writer at the conservative publication National Review, points to this as an example of how Sotomayor is likely more pro-abortion than she has been given credit for from her rulings or in the media.

He said it is clear from the text of the speech that she is "commending" the ability of the Legal Services Corporation to engage in pro-abortion lawsuits using taxpayer funds.

Douglas Johnson, the legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, previously told LifeNews.com about the need for the legislation Sotomayor appeared to oppose.

"Back in the 1980s, some Legal Services Corporation grantees were deeply involved in pro-abortion litigation, until Congress told the LSC to stay out of either side of the abortion fight," Johnson recalls.

Now, the administration of pro-abortion President Barack Obama is fighting to restore those funds.

Meanwhile, the questionnaire contained information from an interview Sotomayor gave to the New York Times in 1983 in which she responded to a question on an unrelated political issue and prefaced her response with, "No matter how liberal I am."

Although it involves significant word parsing, Whelan says that is another indication that Sotomayor is likely pro-abortion because it has the high court pick essentially describing herself as very liberal.

"In stating ‘No matter how liberal I am,’ Sotomayor is describing herself as very liberal," he says. "The clause is the semantic equivalent of “Even though I’m very liberal….’"

The questionnaire responses come after two pro-abortion senators, Diane Feinstein of California and Ron Wyden of Oregon, confirmed that they believe Sotomayor supports abortion and would uphold the Roe v. Wade case that ushered in an era of more than 50 million abortions.

Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com

Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report
Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.