News accounts from the 1990s consistently described her as a \u201ccentrist\u201d in her politics. Her lead sponsor when she was first named as a judge, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was hardly a conventional liberal. Obama may have found himself an empathetic judge, but she practices her empathy from the middle of the road.<\/p>\n
A careful analysis of her record by Business Week, for example, concluded that she is a \u201cmoderate on business issues\u201d and would fit the court\u2019s current alignment on such questions.<\/p>\n
She also upheld a ban on federal funds going to family planning groups that provided abortions overseas. Sotomayor wrote that \u201cthe Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nDan Gilgoff, on his excellent \u201cGod and Country\u201d blog, points out that Sotomayor also ruled in favor of a group of Connecticut antiabortion protesters who asserted that police \u201cused excessive force against them at a demonstration.\u201d He concludes that her \u201cthin record on abortion is most likely a relief\u201d to pro-life groups. In picking her, Obama sent another signal that he is serious about seeking common ground on abortion.\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
E.J. Dionne says Sonia Sotomayor is a centrist, especially when it comes to abortion: News accounts from the 1990s consistently described her as a \u201ccentrist\u201d in her politics. Her lead sponsor when she was first named as a judge, the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, was hardly a conventional liberal. Obama may have found himself […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-law","category-life-issues"],"yoast_head":"\n
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