Abortion Rights

President Obama said Wednesday that he considers it "very important" that women be allowed to make decisions about their bodies but would not impose a "litmus test" on abortion for potential nominees.

Obama met with top Senate Democrats and Republicans to discuss the process of nominating a replacement for retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, who is stepping down this summer.

After the meeting, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said they had discussed "no names." But both said they had held separate, private conversations with the president about specific candidates -- which they declined to describe.

Also at the meeting were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the ranking Judiciary Committee minority member. Vice President Biden also attended.

White House officials have said the process of nominating Stevens's replacement will take several weeks, with a candidate announcement possible in late May. But there are indications it is moving more quickly. Obama has had several conversations with potential picks, people close to the process said.

Obama said Wednesday that he was confident he would meet the self-imposed deadline of May 26, adding that he and his advisers "hope maybe we can accelerate it a little bit so that we have some additional time" for the confirmation.

Obama praised Stevens, then allowed reporters to pose a single question.

Asked whether he would nominate a candidate who did not support abortion rights, he replied: "You know, 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. Obviously this has been a hugely contentious issue in our country for a very long time. I will say the same thing that every president has said since this issue came up, which is I don't have litmus tests around any of these issues."

Obama continued: "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, and that includes women's rights. And that's going to be something that's very important to me, because I think part of what our core constitutional values promote is the notion that individuals are protected in their privacy and their bodily integrity, and women are not exempt from that."

Obama also said he was "confident that we can come up with a nominee who will gain the confidence of the Senate and the confidence of the country, and the confidence of individuals who look to the court to provide evenhanded justice to all Americans."