"It has been a great privilege, indeed, to have served as a member of the court for 24 terms," O'Connor wrote in a letter to President Bush. "I will leave it with enormous respect for the integrity of the court and its role under our constitutional structure."
O'Connor, 75, said she would leave before the start of the court's next term in October or whenever the Senate confirmed her successor.
Update: Looking at the history of Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, it has come to my attention that while that decision was 5-4 in favor of upholding Roe, one of the four dissenters, Justice White, was replaced by Justice Breyer. Rulings during Breyer's tenure have made it clear that Breyer will uphold Roe. However, because Kennedy, one of the five, is only partially in favor of Roe, a conservatvie Justice will, at the very least, cause elements of reproductive rights to be struck down. It is somewhat less likely, though not impossible, that Kennedy will flip entirely.
Update 2: Recent polling on Roe. First, from Pew:
"In 1973 the Roe versus Wade decision established a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, at least in the first three months of pregnancy. Would you like to see the Supreme Court completely overturn its Roe versus Wade decision, or not?"
Yes No Unsure
6/2005 30 63 7
1/2003 31 62 7|
|
|
Permalink :: 52 Comments :: Post a Comment
|
In order to post a comment, you must be logged in. If you have a member account, please log in to comment.
If not, you can make an account right here. It's quick and free.
