Topic category:  Other/General

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens turns 87 on Friday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg recently celebrated her 74th birthday.

Those two liberal stalwarts are desperately trying to hang on another two years. Otherwise, President George W. Bush gets to replace them with conservative judges.

How important is that?

Wednesday's 5-4 ruling upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act is a perfect example.

The court's four conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both Bush appointees, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, were joined by moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy to form the majority on the abortion vote.

The four liberals on the court — Stevens, Ginsberg, David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer — wanted to overturn the Congressional ban on partial birth abortion.

The vote on partial birth abortion was hailed as a landmark decision, almost as dramatic as the original Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

Times have changed for abortion supporters.

As the Associated Press noted, "Gone from the court was Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, her place taken last year by Alito. She had been in a 5-4 majority that struck down a state law banning the controversial abortion procedure seven years ago. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who penned an impassioned dissent in that case, wrote Wednesday's opinion for a conservative majority allowing the first nationwide ban on an abortion procedure since the Roe v. Wade decision upholding abortion rights in 1973. The ruling sets the stage for additional restrictions on a woman's right to choose."

The court's liberal justices, in dissent, called the decision alarming and said it chipped away at abortion rights, AP writer Mark Sherman notes.

President Bush may have been emasculated by the mishandling of the Iraq War and his domestic agenda is in ruins thanks to incompetent staff, but there is one area where he can still leave a lasting legacy: Supreme Court nominees.

Replacing Ginsburg, who has deep and long-standing ties with the American Civil Liberties Union, would be a plum for the Bush presidency.

That's why the remaining two years of Bush's term are important.

Tony Phyrillas
http://tonyphyrillas.blogspot.com (Columnist)

Biography - Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas is a leading conservative political columnist and blogger based in Pennsylvania. He is a veteran journalist with 25 years experience as a reporter, editor and columnist for several newspapers. Phyrillas received recognition for column writing in 2010 from the Associated Press Managing Editors, in 2007 from Suburban Newspapers of America and in 2006 from the Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone Chapter. A graduate of Penn State University, Phyrillas is the city editor and political columnist for The Mercury, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper in Pottstown, Pa. In addition to The Mercury website (www.pottsmerc.com), his columns are featured on more than a dozen political websites and blogs. Phyrillas is a frequent guest (and occasional host) on talk radio and has been a panelist on the "Journalists Roundtable" public affairs TV program on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). Phyrillas was named one of the '10 Leading Greek-American Bloggers in the World' in 2007 by Odyssey: The World of Greece magazine. BlogNetNews.com ranked Phyrillas the Most Influential Political Blogger in Pennsylvania for three consecutive years (2007-2010). You can follow Phyrillas on Twitter @TonyPhyrillas