Blog #38

Sandra Day O’Conner way the first female appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. She has made many significant contributions during her profession.
Abortion has been a very hot topic that she contributed to. In 1974 she voted against a measure to prohibit abortions in some Arizona hospitals. O’Connor generally dissented from 1980s opinion which took an expansive view of Roe v. Wade; she criticized that decision’s “trimester approach” sharply in her dissent in 1983’s City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health. She is reported as criticizing Roe in Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: “…I dispute not only the wisdom but also the legitimacy of the Court's attempt to discredit and pre-empt state abortion regulation regardless of the interests it serves and the impact it has”
She is also widely criticized by her own conservatives. Ramesh Ponnuru wrote that, although O’Conner “has voted reasonably well" from a conservative standpoint, her tendency to issue very case-specific rulings. This is very strong compliment.
Bella Abzug was elected to Congress as a Representative from New York’s 19th district in 1971. She has dedicated much of her efforts as a labor lawyer and the House Abzug has enlarged her advocacy for civil rights and women’s rights such as introducing legislation banning discrimination against women seeking credit. “Abzug opposed the war in Vietnam, called for complete withdrawal of troops and organized Women’s Strike for Peace.”
Abzug served the state of New York in the United States House of Representatives, representing her district in Manhattan, from 1971 to 1977. For part of her term, she also represented part of The Bronx as well. She was one of the first members of Congress to support gay rights, introducing the first federal gay rights bill, known as the Equality Act of 1974.