Media Contact:
Heather Smith
202-270-9962
Heather.Smith@aul.org
For Immediate Release
July 10, 2009
Americans United for Life President to Testify at Sotomayor Senate Judiciary Hearing
Americans United for Life (AUL) announced today that its President & CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest has been called to testify at the confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor, which begin on Monday, July 13.
AUL President Charmaine Yoest said “We are honored to have the opportunity to testify before the Judiciary Committee about the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the highest court in the land. I am looking forward to sharing AUL’s extensive legal research about Judge Sotomayor’s record. In particular, her radical associations and judicial philosophy raises serious concerns in the prolife community.”
Dr. Yoest plans to focus her testimony on making the connection for the senators and the American public between the positions taken by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF) during her tenure on the Board and her judicial interventionist approach to the bench.
“Her PRLDEF record proves that she is an abortion advocate. That record includes opposition to parental notification, opposition to informed consent, opposition to bans on partial-birth abortion and support for taxpayer-funded abortions. These positions are far outside the mainstream of American public opinion,” said Dr. Yoest.
The oldest national public policy organization dedicated to protecting and defending life, Americans United for Life has garnered major media attention for their comprehensive legal work in uncovering Judge Sotomayor’s background on abortion and how she is worse than Justice Souter on abortion. This research is located at AUL’s two informational Web sites:
- Sotomayor411.com features in-depth background on the nominee’s record and her involvement with a radical pro-abortion group. The site also features a detailed comparison chart on why the nominee would be worse than retiring Justice David Souter on the life issues, a point that Yoest emphasized in her recent op-ed in the Washington Times.
- AskSotomayor.com spotlights the “Top Ten” questions senators should pose to put her judicial philosophy into sharp focus. The “Top Ten” questions on the site, which Yoest presented to the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week via a memo, are tailored to clarify Sotomayor’s beliefs about such vital issues as the role of the Courts – whether it is to make policy, as Sotomayor once suggested, or to interpret the Constitution – and whether she sees abortion as a “fundamental right,” as was argued by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund while she was on its board.
About Americans United for Life
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 at both the federal and state levels since 1971. The Wall Street Journal has profiled AUL, and PBS' Frontline program chronicled AUL's successful efforts in Mississippi.
