President Bush has announced his nominee for the Supreme Court to replace the retired Sandra Day O'Connor-- John G. Roberts. Many women, democrats, and even republicans (first lady, Laura Bush included) were hoping to see a woman nominated. At only 50 years old, he is fairly young for a Supreme Court justice. ABC-11 (WTVD), as well as MSNBC both called him a "rock-solid conservative" and it is said that he does not support the decision in Roe v. Wade. In fact, MSNBC reports that Roberts co-wrote a brief in 1990 that "suggested the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 high court decision that legalized abortion." However, as Roberts told the Senate during his confirmation in 2003, "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. ... There is nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent." Roberts has been an appellate judge (nominated by Bush, and approved by the Senate in 2003) for two years, but experts say that what he lacks in experience as a judge, will be made up for by his experience arguing cases before the Supreme Court. Many people hoped for another middle-of-the-spectrum justice, who like O'Connor, would be the swing vote in many landmark decisions. O'Connor took often liberal stands on issues like the death penalty, when in 2002 (Atkins v. Virginia), she sided with 5 other justices that a mentally retarded criminal could not be executed. She also cast the deciding vote that struck down a Nebraska partial-birth abortion law. She dissented when the majority of the justices supported striking down an Ohio law that prohibited doctors from performing abortions on teen girls without their parents' permission or a court order.

It should be interesting to see how the debate within the senate unfolds. It could go either way...