Sandra Day O'Connor: Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood

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To become the first to hold a position is a tremendous accomplishment; However, it is also something that may come with extra criticism and possibly scorn. Sandra Day O’Connor was the first woman to become a Supreme Court Justice. She was a remarkable person, born on March 26, 1930 in Texas. She began her education by attending Stanford and majoring in economics, then recognizing her interest in law, she returned to Stanford, and completed law school in two years as opposed to the standard three, finally graduating in 1952. After struggling to find work, O’Connor served as a civilian lawyer in the Quartermaster’s Corps in Germany, with her husband John Jay O’Connor. For six years following this, she worked as a stay at home mom raising her three sons, Scott, Brian and Jay. In 1969 she went back to work in politics, after being appointed to a vacant senate seat by Governor Jack Williams; Sandra was very successful, and was re-elected for this position twice. The year 1981, however, is when O’Connor earned what is likely to be considered her greatest achievement: she was appointed by Ronald Reagan to become the first ever woman Supreme Court Justice (biography.com 2012). AYOTTE V. PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND (2006) O’Connor wrote the majority opinion for this case. It involved multiple points of contention, the main being if the Parental Notification Prior to Abortion Act protects the health and rights of minors, and the collateral being if Planned Parenthood of Northern New England could challenge the constitutionality of the bill before it became effective (oyez.org, 2012) as well as how the Supreme Court should treat a bill that consisted of a perfectly acceptable framework, with minor flaws. As with most simi... ... middle of paper ... ...ating her pregnancy . . . we have long upheld parental involvement statutes,” (law.cornell.edu, 2012), also from the majority opinion. Based on these beliefs and similar antecedent cases, the Court unanimously decided that the bill did not need to be shot down. Instead, they simply remanded the lower courts to determine the original legislative intent (renewamerica.com, 2012). Works Cited http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/politics/politicsspecial1/19scotus.html// www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2005/2005_04_1144 http://www.biography.com/people/sandra-day-oconnor-9426834 http://www.scotusblog.com/2005/11/tomorrows-argument-ayotte-v-planned-parenthood-of-northern-new-england/ http://www.aul.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Parental-Notice-2011-LG.pdf http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/gaynor/100906 http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-1144.ZO.html

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