WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he will announce his US Supreme Court nominee by the end of May and insisted his pick must back women's rights but would not have to pass a "litmus test" on the abortion issue.
US President Barack Obama waves as he returns to the White House after a visit to California, in Washington April 20, 2010. [Agencies]
Obama spoke as he consulted with lawmakers on his effort to fill a vacancy on the nation's highest court while hoping to avoid a politically divisive fight that could distract from his legislative agenda in a congressional election year.
He has begun informal talks with potential nominees, signaling an intent to start narrowing his choices for a replacement for retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, considered the court's leading liberal. His pick will be subject to US Senate confirmation.
"I am confident that we can come up with a nominee who will gain the confidence of the Senate and the confidence of the country," Obama told reporters as he sat down with leading Democratic and Republican senators.
Touching on a hot-button social issue, Obama, asked whether he would nominate someone who did not support a woman's right to have an abortion, said: "I am somebody who believes that women should have the ability to make often very difficult decisions about their own bodies and issues of reproduction."
Obama added, "I don't have litmus tests around any of these issues. But I will say that I want somebody who is going to be interpreting our Constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights, including women's rights. That is something that is going to be very important to me."
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