Judge Diane Wood of the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago is a firm believer in the legal right to abortion. So firm, in fact, that some think she might have trouble surviving a heated nomination process if President Obama nominates her to replace John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court.  But are her views really that controversial? After reviewing some of Wood's decisions, Slate's Emily Bazelon isn't convinced:

In revisiting a decade-old Supreme Court ruling that made abortions harder to obtain, Wood clearly took a pro-choice stance. But is this ruling radical or outside the mainstream of constitutional thought? Only if the right has succeeded in stifling every last judicial impulse to ensure that women can have unburdened access to abortion.

Read Bazelon's whole piece here.