Washington D.C., May 28, 2009 / 23:44 pm
Several pro-abortion groups have issued reactions to President Barack Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. While praising the choice, some groups avoided the abortion issue while one asked for reassurances about the nominee’s commitment to Roe v. Wade.
Nancy Northrup, President of the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), said Judge Sotomayor’s growing up in a single parent household with limited means should provide her with a perspective “sorely needed today as women’s reproductive rights remain under attack.”
Northrup claimed that the pro-abortion rights Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade has been “increasingly in jeopardy” in law and in fact by a “severe shortage of abortion providers,” “onerous” state abortion restrictions, and a lack of funding. These factors, she said, make abortion “virtually unavailable” for many women.
“It is critical that any new Justice empathize with the true plight of women to not only recognize when those protections are being violated, but to take steps to safeguard them. We encourage the Senate Judiciary Committee to engage Judge Sotomayor and any future nominees to the Court on their commitment to the principles of Roe v. Wade,” Northrup added.
Noting that the nominee has not ruled on the constitutionality of abortion, Northrup addressed Sotomayor’s 2002 opinion against the CRR’s case challenging the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, which prohibited U.S. funding for organizations that promote or perform abortions overseas.