WASHINGTON (July 13, 2009)--Even before the questioning begins, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor was trying Monday to dispel some of the Republican concerns about impartiality.

In her opening statement at her Senate confirmation hearing, the veteran appeals court judge told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the law is the driving force behind her rulings, not her personal or professional experiences.

Sotomayor said she forms her rulings "by setting out what the law requires and then by explaining why a contrary position, sympathetic or not, is accepted or rejected."

In the weeks leading up to today's hearings, GOP senators have repeatedly cited Sotomayor's remark that a "wise Latina" woman with her life experiences might be better able to issue a ruling than a white man.

Sotomayor spoke Monday after several hours of opening statements by committee members and interruptions by several anti-abortion protesters who were quickly escorted from the hearing room.

During her remarks, Sotomayor thanked her mother for getting her to this point in her career.

She said being reared by parents who came to New York from Puerto Rico made her life uniquely American."

Sotomayor is expected to face tough questioning when the hearings resume Tuesday.

If confirmed, she would become the first Hispanic justice.

In the opening round of the confirmation hearing this morning, the ranking GOP member on the Judiciary Committee took aim at Sotomayor's past statement that being a "wise Latina woman" would sometimes help her make a better decision than a white male.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions says he won't vote for judges who would allow their own "prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision," but Democratic committee chairman Patrick Leahy described Sotomayor as a "judge for all Americans" who'd be a "justice for all Americans."

The newest member of the Senate, former comedian Al Franken, was as serious as his colleagues in his opening statement at the Senate confirmation hearing.

Franken said he is "truly humbled" to be on the Judiciary Committee and praised Chairman Patrick Leahy and ranking Republican Jeff Sessions.

Franken told Sotomayor that she was "the most experienced Supreme Court nominee in 100 years."

He said her story is inspirational and one in which "all Americans should take great pride in."

One of the four protesters who disrupted the hearing Monday was the plaintiff in Roe v. Wade abortion case who has since become an abortion opponent.

Better known as "Jane Roe," Norma McCorvey, 61, of Texas began screaming during Franken’s opening statement.

McCorvey's suit led to the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, but she later became an anti-abortion protester.

McCorvey shouted that Sotomayor was "wrong about abortion."