5:38 p.m. -The hearing is recessing briefly to set up for the next panel. Liveblogging is recessing for the evening.
5:33 p.m. – Sen. Kyl asks re Coburn’s questioning, when Sotomayor did not want to acknowledge the impact of the advances in technology with regard to abortion law.
Yoest: “There have definitely been tremendous advances in the scientific realm as it relates to human life.” Also, she nots, AUL is very focused on pro-life legislation on the state level. Part of the question is how much the American people will be allowed to interact with their state representatives in encouraging restrictions on abortion that they’d like to say. (In other words, is Sotomayor going to deny the American people the opportunity to have a say on abortion law through their elected representatives? That’s what Sotomayor apparently endorses, based on her heavy involvement with the PRLDEF, which argued for striking down all common-sense abortion regulations.)
5:29 p.m. – Sessions thanks Somin for his testimony on Didden. The case was “worse than I thought,” Sessions says.
5:24 p.m. – Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) takes the microphone. He asks AUL President & CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest, with regard to the nominee’s involvement with the PRLDEF, whether the AUL board members know what legal actions AUL is taking.
Yoest says that as she’s listened to Sotomayor’s discussion of her relationship with the PRLDEF as a board member, she finds that the nominee’s excuses strain credulity: “The point of being a board member … is to have oversight, and to have accountability and responsibility for the organization.”
5:12 p.m. – George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin begins his testimony. He was invited to speak by the GOP. He is concerned about Sotomayor’s stance on property rights, and discusses her role in the Didden case.
5:08 p.m. – David Kopel of the Independence Institute is testifying against Sotomayor’s confirmation, particularly out of concern over her views on the Second Amendment.
5:03 p.m. -Former National Rifle Association President Sandy Froman is testifying now. The NRA announced today that it opposes Sotomayor’s confirmation.
4:59 p.m. – Yoest brings up the core American belief in the bonds between parent and child. A mother of five, she says that the notion that one of her daughters might be taken for a surgical procedure without her knowledge is “horrific.” Yet the PRLDEF, on Sotomayor’s watch, argued that parental-notification laws — along with all other regulations on abortion — should be struck down.
4:55 p.m. – Yoest brings up Sotomayor’s twelve years of service on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. For in-depth background about the nominee’s involvement with that radical abortion-advocating organization, see AUL’s Sotomayor411.com.
4:53 p.m. – AUL President & CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest begins her testimony. Read her entire testimony on AUL’s Web site.
4:48 p.m. – Another witness called by the Democrats, Yale Law School Professor Kate Stith, begins her testimony.
4:42 p.m. – Former Yankee pitcher David Cone begins his testimony. I think it’s safe to say he’s testifying in favor of Sotomayor’s confirmation.
4:36 p.m. – Another witness in favor of Sotomayor’s confirmation, Chuck Canterbury — national president of the Fraternal Order of Police — begins his testimony.
4:30 p.m. – Former FBI Director Louis Freeh begins his testimony. He is talking about why he recommends the nominee’s confirmation.
4:29 p.m. – The second panel of witnesses are sworn in. Americans United for Life President & CEO Charmaine Yoest is on this panel.
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