Second Influence

Sandra’s second influence was that she made many decisions while on the bench. “O’Connor has played a major role in deciding cases dealing with controversial issues such as the death penalty, affirmation action, separation of church and state, and abortion.” Sandra approaches each case with individual treatment and seeks to arrive at a practical conclusion. A case she was involved in is Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The case was that the Pennsylvania legislature amended the abortion law in 1998 and 1989 and the provisions were challenged by many abortion clinics and physicians. The law required that informed consent and a 24 hour waiting period should be mandatory before the procedure. A minor seeking abortion needed consent from at least one parent and a married woman needed to show she told the husband about the procedure. O'Connor's view point was against the law. She was in the group of four that voted no for the protest but she made a strong impact to the decision. She “was increasingly viewed by court observers as the swing vote, the one who determined whether the liberal or the conservative view would decide the outcome of the case.”