In the third day of her confirmation hearing Wednesday, Sonia Sotomayor continued to evade efforts by senators from both parties to pin her down on the sensitive legal issues of the day, including abortion rights, gun control and campaign finance.

She used the traditional argument that she could not comment on cases that are or could be coming before the court when she refused to say whether the Second Amendment provided a "fundamental right" to gun ownership that precluded state restrictions.

Senate Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., insisted that a ruling she helped write for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states and that gun ownership was not "a fundamental right."

"This is a big issue," said Sessions, who suggested she would have to recuse herself if the case came before the high court.

But Sotomayor said she had not "prejudged the case" and that she had not spoken to the question of "fundamental right."

She similarly avoided direct responses to questions whether the Roe v. Wade decision firmly established a woman's right to abortion, while noting that the court has found numerous times that the concept of privacy in the Constitution's equal justice clause applies to a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy.

When pressed by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., Sotomayor refused to comment on different views from current Supreme Court justices on separation of powers, but said, "I have a 17-year record of showing my deference" to the authority of Congress.

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