NYT/CBS News Poll Examines Public Opinion On Sotomayor, Shows Support For Abortion Rights

Three weeks after President Obama named Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee to the Supreme Court, 53% of U.S. adults say they do not know enough about her to determine whether they would support her confirmation, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll released Wednesday, the New York Times reports. The question was one of many in the national telephone poll of 895 adults, which explored a broad range of issues related to Obama"s first five months as president. According to the poll, 48% of participants said that Sotomayor"s opinions on issues like abortion and affirmative action are important information that should be known ahead of her confirmation hearing, which is scheduled to begin July 13. The poll found that 74% of participants believe it is very or somewhat important for the Supreme Court to reflect the nation"s diversity. The Times reports that although Sotomayor"s nomination and the recent murder of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller have "injected a fresh dynamic into the national abortion debate," the new poll shows that there has been little change in public opinion on abortion rights in the past 20 years. Thirty-six percent of participants said that abortion should be generally available, 41% said it should be available but with increased restrictions and 21% said it should be prohibited. Among Democratic voters, 71% said that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, while Republican voters were "closely divided," the Times reports. The poll was conducted from June 12 to June 16 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points (Zeleny/Sussman, New York Times, 6/18).