Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the US Supreme Court, has passed away at the age of 93, due to complications related to advanced dementia and respiratory illness, Reuters reports.
Chief Justice John Roberts praised O’Connor for blazing a historic trail, highlighting her undaunted determination, indisputable ability, and advocacy for civics education.
O’Connor, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, became the court’s first woman justice. Despite her conservative roots, O’Connor evolved to become the court’s ideological center, preserving women’s abortion rights and upholding affirmative action.
