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"Jane Roe" Arrested at Sotomayor Hearing

(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
The woman known as "Jane Roe" in the landmark Supreme Court abortion case Roe v. Wade was reportedly arrested today at Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearing.

Norma McCorvey is best known for her role in the 1973 court ruling that secured a woman's right to an abortion. Years after the pivotal case, McCorvey recanted her support for abortion rights and became an active anti-abortion demonstrator.

McCorvey and another protester were arrested after she interrupted remarks from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), the Washington Post reports. Groups of anti-abortion protesters trekked to the Senate office buildings where the hearing was taking place.

There were two other instances in which protesters were removed from the hearing by police.

"You're wrong Sotomayor," McCorvey yelled during the hearing, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "You're wrong."
"I'm here to overturn Roe and defeat Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court," McCorvey said earlier, according to the Sentinel. "She's unworthy of the position. She's Catholic. She's even unworthy of taking communion because of her pro-abortion stance."

Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy reprimanded the protesters that interrupted the hearing.

"You are guests of the Senate while you are here," he said at one point. "Everybody is a guest of the Senate. Judge Sotomayor deserves the respect of being heard."

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