The court says she died in Phoenix on Friday, of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness.
In 2018, she announced that she had been diagnosed with “the beginning stages of dementia, probably Alzheimer’s disease.” Her husband, John O’Connor, died of complications of Alzheimer’s in 2009.
O’Connor’s nomination in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan and subsequent confirmation by the Senate ended 191 years of male exclusivity on the high court. A native of Arizona who grew up on her family’s sprawling ranch, O’Connor wasted little time building a reputation as a hard worker who wielded considerable political clout on the nine-member court.
Fair enough. I feel I understand at least some of why people are upset with her; but I don’t think all of her critics sufficiently empathize with her position. From within her shoes, she devoted her life to a greater cause of the American people that far exceeds the scope of simply Roe V. Wade – and in that, I think she earned the right to be selfish and believe in herself that she could ride out another term. Completely unfortunate with hindsight, but she beat her cancer once and was in otherwise pretty good health - living alone and doing pushups to boot. Being on the court was literally the thing keeping her alive in the first place.
It is what it is at this point. But I refuse to put as much emphasis on good people not acting perfectly, versus bad people doing everything wrong and causing the degradation of the system in the first place. Anyway, my apologies for saying my silly quip.