UNITED STATES—Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized Tuesday, May 5 at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore due to a gallbladder condition. The court stated that she intended to take part in Wednesday’s disputes involving the eight-year battle of ObamaCare Act’s contraceptive mandate in a telephonic conference from the hospital.
“Following oral arguments on Monday, the Justice underwent outpatient tests at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., that confirmed she was suffering from a gallstone that had migrated to her cystic duct, blocking it and causing an infection,” a statement from the court said.
Justice Ginsburg, 87, endured a non-surgical treatment for acute cholecystitis, which is generally an inflammation of the gallbladder and will be resting in the hospital for “a day or two,” according to the statements. She had been treated four times for pancreatic, lung, and colorectal cancer in the last 20 years. Enduring through radiation therapies, fracturing three ribs, and removing cancerous nodules in surgeries, Ginsburg has been hospitalized several times over the last few years.
Ginsburg is the second female justice, after Sandra Day O’Connor to be established as a justice of the court, in addition to Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Serving for 27 years, she was initially appointed by President Bill Clinton on August 10, 1993. In recent times, she has been scrutinized as her potential vacancy in the Supreme Court may lead President Trump to appoint a third justice, of his choice.
Ginsburg states that if her health permits, she would like to serve the bench until she is 90 years old.
