Senate Judiciary Committee Vote On Sotomayor Reset For July 28

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 23 Jul 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday postponed its vote on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor until July 28 at the request of Republican members who said they need one more week to review written answers she recently submitted to the panel, CongressDaily reports. Both Republicans and Democrats expect Sotomayor to be approved by the committee and confirmed by the Senate, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 7/21).

The delay came as Senate Republicans continued to weigh whether they would vote to confirm Sotomayor, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced plans to vote for Sotomayor and issued a statement calling the judge "committed to applying the law impartially without bias or favoritism." Four other moderate Republicans have said they will support Sotomayor, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) indicated that more might follow suit. "There are a number of Republicans who have announced they plan to vote for her," Leahy said, adding, "There are a number of others who've not made that announcement yet, but plan to vote for her" (Peterson, Wall Street Journal, 7/21). Leahy said he is confident that Sotomayor will be confirmed in time for the Supreme Court's first meeting on Sept. 9.

Some strong conservatives, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have said they will oppose Sotomayor (Hirschfeld Davis, AP/Denver Post, 7/22). Among the Senate Republicans who have not announced their intentions are Sens. John Cornyn (Texas), who serves on the Judiciary Committee, and Judd Gregg (N.H.) (Wall Street Journal, 7/21).

NARAL Endorses Sotomayor

NARAL ProChoice America recently said that it will endorse Sotomayor, the AP/Seattle Times reports. The group said that Sotomayor's testimony shows that she is a stronger supporter of privacy rights than the last two Supreme Court nominees -- Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. Sotomayor said several times during her confirmation hearings that privacy rights include a woman's right to have an abortion, NARAL said. According to the AP/Times, NARAL did not endorse Sotomayor until now because of uncertainty over her views on abortion rights (Hirschfeld Davis, AP/Seattle Times, 7/21).

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