AUL: Obama Nominates Judicial Activist

Sotomayor Wants to Set Policy, Will Perpetuate Role of Supreme Court as 'National Abortion Control Board.'

WASHINGTON (Americans United for Life) - President & CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest reacted to President Barack Obama nominating Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice Souter on the United States Supreme Court, stating:

"For all the President's talk of finding 'common ground,' this appointment completely contradicts that hollow promise. Judge Sonia Sotomayor's judicial philosophy undermines common ground. She is a radical pick that divides America. She believes the role of the Court is to set policy which is exactly the philosophy that led to the Supreme Court turning into the National Abortion Control Board denying the American people to right to be heard on this critical issue. This appointment would provide a pedestal for an avowed judicial activist to impose her personal policy and beliefs onto others from the bench, at a time when the Courts are at a crossroad and critical abortion regulations -- supported by the vast majority of Americans -- like partial-birth abortion and informed consent laws lie in the balance.

"A vote to confirm Judge Sotomayor as the next Supreme Court Justice is a vote to strip Americans of the ability to choose for themselves how to regulate abortion. Our recent polling data speaks to this point of judicial activism: 69% of the American people believe that "some federal judges have gone too far by doing more than just interpreting the law and instead are making new law."

The Supreme Court took on the role of the 'National Abortion Control Board' in 1973 with Roe vs. Wade, and Judge Sotomayor will further entrench the Court's self-appointed role as the sole arbiter of abortion policy. Based on her judicial philosophy, we expect her to elevate unrestricted, unregulated, and taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand to a fundamental constitutional right by reading the sweeping Freedom of Choice Act - also known as FOCA - into the Constitution.

"The American people want the right to implement common-sense regulations on abortion. American parents want parental involvement laws to protect their daughters from having abortions without their knowledge or consent. They want prohibitions on late-term abortions and the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortion-on-demand. And women have rallied for informed consent laws, ensuring that they receive all medically-appropriate information about abortion, its complications, and its consequences."

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Americans United for Life (AUL) is a nonprofit, public-interest law and policy organization whose vision is a nation in which everyone is welcomed in life and protected in law. The first national pro-life organization in America, AUL has been committed to defending human life through vigorous judicial, legislative, and educational efforts state by state since 1971.