That’s the title of my new Confirmation Tales post, which explores how and why the topic of abortion played a very different role in Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation battle than it played in Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 16 years earlier. My opening paragraph:
The role of abortion in the politics of Supreme Court confirmation battles changed dramatically over the decades, from the defeat of Robert Bork’s nomination in 1987 to the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination in 2020. Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation battle in 2009 provides revealing signs of the transformation that was underway.