Abortion protester’s outburst interrupts Sotomayor hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor were briefly interrupted Monday morning by the outburst of an anti-abortion-rights activist.
 
Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) opening statement was brought to a dead halt by a protester who screamed out: “What about abortion?” and “Stop the genocide of unborn Latinos!”
 
{mosads}U.S. Capitol Police scrambled to remove the protester from the hearing room.
 
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) gaveled the hearing room to order and declared: “There will be no outbursts allowed in the committee either for or against the nominee.”
 
Despite criticizing Sotomayor in his opening statement, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) backed Leahy’s call for orderly proceedings.
 
“I support you 100 percent,” said Sessions.