Liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has no plans to retire any time soon.
A reliable supporter of abortion on demand, Ginsburg is 85 years old. But during a public appearance Sunday, she told CNN she plans to stay on the court until she is 90.
“I’m now 85,” Ginsburg said. “My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five more years.”
The Washington Examiner reports Ginsburg discussed her plans for retirement in New York City after a play about the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
She already has hired law clerks for the next two years, according to the report.
Here’s more:
Ginsburg, who turned 85 in March, would have to serve on the highest court for another decade to near William O. Douglas’ record of serving for 36 years. She was appointed in 1994, becoming just the second woman justice after Sandra Day O’Connor.
A liberal, she signaled earlier this year that if Democrat Hillary Clinton had won the presidency in 2016, she would likely have announced her retirement by this spring.
When asked in October about possible retirement, she said, “My answer is as long as I can do the job full steam, I will do it.”
There has been speculation that Ginsburg might retire while President Donald Trump is in office, and open up the opportunity for Trump to appoint three conservative justices to the high court. However, Ginsburg has repeatedly stated that she will not retire while she still is able to serve.
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Ginsburg is beloved by abortion activists because of her decisions on the high court since the 1990s. A new film, scheduled for release on Christmas, will glorify her liberal activism.
“A woman’s control of her own body, her choice whether and when to reproduce, it’s essential to women and it’s most basic for women’s health,” she once said.
In 2016, she was one of the five justices who sided with abortion activists in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which struck down Texas abortion clinic regulations.
In a rare interview with the New York Times in 2016, Ginsburg said laws should not deny a woman “her right to choose” to abort her unborn baby. She and four other justices ruled that these safety regulations were an “undue burden” on women’s access to abortion.
