Sotomayor warns 'The View' about 'the price we pay' for overturning SCOTUS precedents like Roe v. Wade

"Why do you see these decisions as so dangerous to our freedoms? What do you think ordinary Americans should take away from what seem to be very prescient warnings?" Hostin asked Sotomayor.

"The price we pay is whatever is happening today, as I indicated, is going to affect a lot of people. But it affects your future. It affects the conduct of leaders in the future, because what we permit today is not going to be duplicated exactly tomorrow. It's going to be something different," she began.

"It'll be a different group of people. It'll be a different situation. But once we have approved it, it sets a precedent that can be, in your judgment, because in the end you are the people affected, right? Really bad. And that's what's at risk, is in each time we change precedent, we are changing the contours of a right that people thought they had. Once you take that away, think of how much more is at risk later. Not just in this situation," she added. 

"How hard each case is," Sotomayor said. "When you read a majority opinion, it sounds totally convincing. It does. Because for you to sign on to a decision, you have to believe what you are signing on to. Read the dissent. Read the other side, and it will tell you how hard these questions are. Don't ever think there's a simple answer. There isn't."

Sotomayor added that there was "no winning" in court.

"There's one side wins, another side, what's the opposite of win? Loses. The person who loses is losing something they thought was important. A right they had, a claim they thought justified. It is something that's costing them. This is always a price we pay in court cases," she said.