The final two Republican senators in the first round of questioning for Sonia Sotomayor -- John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma -- have focused a good portion of their time on a topic that has largely been considered a non-issue in these confirmation hearings: abortion.

Coburn, who wrapped up the Republican side of the Judiciary Committee's questioning this morning, asked Sotomayor what she believes to be settled law on abortion. Sotomayor replied that the Supreme Court's ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey has "reaffirmed the core holding of Roe v. Wade that a woman has a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy in certain circumstances."

Cornyn, the first questioner today, probed Sotomayor about her "scant record" on abortion and asked her if there was any reason the White House moved to reassure abortion rights groups that there was no need to worry about her record on the issue. "You just have to look at my record to know that, in the cases that I addressed on all issues, I follow the law," she said.

Anti-abortion sentiment has been present around the fringe of the hearings -- evidenced by signs and banners outside the Hart Office Building and the five protesters who have been escorted out of Hart 216. Coburn's and Cornyn's focus on the issue could be a sign they're focusing more on appeasing the GOP base than scrutinizing Sotomayor's judicial record. In fact, in opening up his questioning, Coburn said: "A lot of Americans are watching this hearing. I want to use words that the American people can truly understand."

A few minutes later when probing Sotomayor about her ruling in the Second Amendment case Maloney v. Cuomo, Coburn also looked beyond the beltway. He argued that her ruling in Maloney and the Supreme Court's ruling in D.C. v. Heller deny Oklahomans a fundamental right to bear arms. Sotomayor reiterated that in Maloney, she was simply following the precedent set by Heller, which was that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms. The Heller decision fell short of addressing whether that is a right incorporated to the state, though, which was what generated Coburn's persistent questioning on the issue.