Well she hasn’t ruled directly on any abortion rights.  However she has ruled in three abortion related decisions on the side that Pro-Life groups support.  In Center for Reproductive Law & Policy v. Bush, 304 F.3d 183 she ruled in favor of the Bush Administration’s policy of not giving money to foreign organizations that perform abortions.

The second case was Port Washington Teachers’ Association v. Board of Education. The teacher’s union was challenging a policy that teacher’s report student pregnancies to the parents.  The case was tossed out as it wasn’t a requirement that the reports be made and therefore the argument had no standing.

The third case was Amnesty America v. Town of West Hartford. In a nutshell a Pro-Life group was demonstrating and the police got involved. The demonstrators sued charging that the West Hartford Police Department used excessive force in actions taken against the demonstrators. Sotomayor ruled in favor of the Pro-Life group in a statement

“Because a reasonable jury could find that the officers gratuitously inflicted pain in a manner that was not a reasonable response to the circumstances…”

It was a ruling that really had little to do with abortion itself.  It was a ruling on the police department’s practices in regards to protestors/demonstrators.

Other than the first one that clearly allowed the Bush Administration the ability to withhold funds from groups that were preforming abortions, essentially ending those abortions,  I’m not sure that any of those cases really give a clear picture of her stance on abortion.   However all three rulings were heralded by Pro-Life groups.

I have looked for statements by Pro-Choice groups about Ms Sotomayor and her stance on abortion and they pretty much all say the same thing.  Their not sure about her and hope that she will respect precident.  Here are some quotes from Pro-Choice groups from an article from the AP.

From NARAL Pro Choice America president Nancy Keenan.

“We look forward to learning more about Judge Sotomayor’s views on the right to privacy and the landmark Roe v. Wade decision as the Senate’s hearing process moves forward,”

From National Abortion Federation president Vicky Saporta.

“We don’t have enough information to take a position at this time. We’re waiting to learn more about Judge Sotomayor’s views on the constitutional right to privacy, including the right to choose.”

Hardly any ringing endorsements there.

Rachel Maddow, whom I’m not much of a fan of, hit the nail on the head with this one.

“A New Legal Regime” is what bothers me most about this whole statement.  Will this regime operate within the current legal framework or will they have a whole new set of laws outside the current Justice System and Consitution?  Will they be above the current Justice System?  Will a judge in the current system be able to review their rulings and be able to overturn them?  Or will they be above all others and answerable to no one?