By THERESA POULSON

In nominating Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, President Obama puts forth a candidate who has not yet had to rule directly on abortion rights, leaving pro-choice advocates ill at ease. But the White House has sent signals that Sotomayor would uphold Roe v. Wade, and that the president and the judge see eye-to-eye on the matter. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs has said that while the president has not specifically discussed abortion rights with Sotomayor, Obama "felt comfortable that they shared a philosophy on that interpretation" of the Constitution.

Abortion rights backers are concerned about Center for Reproductive Law and Policy v. Bush, a challenge to the "Mexico City Policy," in which Sotomayor ruled that the government was legally "free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position" in the allocation of public funds. This ruling gains Sotomayor little credit with pro-life groups, however. Americans United For Life has declared her an "activist judge" who "will further entrench the Court’s self-appointed role as the sole arbiter of abortion policy."

If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the sixth Catholic on the court, but legal scholars doubt that her religious identity would influence her rulings. (Even if it did, it would not necessarily lead her to oppose abortion rights: A recent Gallup poll reported that 52 percent of Catholics who do not attend church regularly find abortion morally acceptable; 24 percent of churchgoing Catholics agree.)

While Sotomayor hasn't disclosed her views on abortion rights publicly, she has discussed the matter in at least one private meeting with a senator.  Her confirmation hearings will undoubtedly give more lawmakers a chance to question her about where she stands, but she could skirt the issue as nominees have in the past.