Sotomayor declines to talk about abortion views

— -- Judge Sonia Sotomayor refused to be pinned down on abortion, the focus of a number of senators' questions as the third day of her confirmation hearings opened Wednesday.

Sotomayor, whose judicial record on abortion rights is scanty, said she made no promises to anyone, including President Obama, about how she'd vote on the controversial issue.

"I was asked no question by anyone, including the president, about my views on any specific legal issue," Sotomayor said.

The judge told Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, she has "no idea" why her former law partner, George Pavia, toldThe Washington Post: "I can guarantee she'll be for abortion rights."

"I have never spoken to him … on any social issue," Sotomayor said, adding that she has "followed the law in all cases involving women's rights to terminate their pregnancy."

As a candidate, Obama said he would make "preserving a woman's right to choose under Roe v. Wade a priority" and his spokesman Robert Gibbs said when questioned about Sotomayor's position that the president was "very comfortable with her interpretation of the Constitution being similar to that of his."

In 17 years as a federal judge, Sotomayor has decided cases only on the fringes of the abortion debate. She said Wednesday that in one case, she voted to uphold a policy that barred federal funding for international groups that provide abortions.

The Southern Baptist Convention said Sotomayor "does not appear to share the pro-life values" of its 16 million members, in a letter to the two top members of the Judiciary Committee, Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, cited Sotomayor's service as a board member of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund at a time when the organization "filed briefs in at least six prominent court cases in support of abortion rights."

Sotomayor said Tuesday that she was not involved in the preparation of those briefs as a board member.