Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor 'open,' will follow law on abortion issue, says friend
BY Michael Saul
DAILY NEWS POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
Friday, May 29th 2009, 5:19 PM
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Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor understands how difficult it is for a woman to decide whether to have an abortion and she knows women who have struggled with that choice, a longtime friend told the Daily News.
"Years ago, we spoke about abortion, about how difficult a choice it is," Dawn Cardi, a lawyer and one of Sotomayor's closest friends, told the News Friday.
"It's a very, very difficult choice, and (we discussed) how difficult it must be for a woman who has to make that choice," Cardi recalled. "It's not a cavalier decision under any circumstances, and we understand that."
Asked directly if Sotomayor believes a woman has a right to choose an abortion, Cardi replied, "She will follow what she thinks is the law on that, and her personal beliefs will not interfere with that analysis because my view of her is that she does not allow her personal beliefs to interfere with her analysis of legal issues."
"It's an open question," Cardi insisted. "She will keep an open mind and she will hear all sides and decide, I think, based on what she analyzes the law requires."
That ambiguity has liberals and conservatives gnashing their teeth as they try to predict Sotomayor's stance on the hot-button issue.
Cardi said Sotomayor will strongly consider precedent.
"She will give very strong consideration to precedent," Cardi said. "I think that's very important to her.
But I don't think it's the be all and end all. I don't think it's the completely controlling issue, the determinant."
Since President Obama selected Sotomayor as his choice to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter, advocates on both sides of the volatile issue have expressed concern that Sotomayor's views on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion rights decision, are unknown.
Sotomayor has never directly ruled on whether the Constitution protects a woman's right to an abortion. Sotomayor, 54, is divorced and does not have any children.
Obama and his White House staffers did not ask Sotomayor about abortion rights during seven hours of interviews at the White House last week, aides confirmed. (Former presidents have also shied away from asking directly about abortion, records show.)
Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Thursday, Obama was "very comfortable with her interpretation of the Constitution being similar to that of his." Obama supports abortion rights.
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