Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice by Joan Biskupic (Ecco Books, an imprint of Harper Collins), $26.95.(Review).(Book Review)

As a yet-to-be-fully retired Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor's legacy is obviously still up for grabs. But as the first woman on the United States Supreme Court, it seems almost guaranteed that historians will mirror the work of most contemporary journalists in portraying O'Connor in the most flattering light possible.

Regardless of what history might eventually say, there is only one conclusion pro-lifers can draw, as we look at O'Connor's votes on abortion. They have seriously hurt the cause of the unborn child.

USA Today reporter Joan Biskupic's take on O'Connor is captured in her title: Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice. O'Connor's enormous influence comes from often being the swing vote on the more divisive issues of our day and her astute behind the scenes politicking, according to Biskupic, herself a lawyer.

O'Connor, Biskupic points out, wrote her decisions narrowly which allowed her room to maneuver in future cases. Biskupic quotes Justice Antonin Scalia, who was often frustrated by O'Connor's decisions and opinions.

In a personal note to [Justice Harry] Blackmun, on July 2, 1996, Scalia said that he was "more discouraged this year than I have been at the end of any of my previous nine terms up here." ... But Scalia stayed and continued to fire his grapeshot at O'Connor. He criticized her for what he believed was damaging ambiguity and a constant desire to "have it both ways."

Not all journalists, even those who agree with the outcome of Roe, like the manner in which O'Connor has upheld the 1973 abortion decision. It brings to mind the original response to Roe in which many self-identified "pro-choicers" eviscerated Justice Blackmun's shoddily reasoned opinion. These critics see O'Connor's famous "undue burden" standard as a mishmash that continually left litigators guessing where she would come down next.

For example, in June 2001, Jeffrey Rosen, an associate professor at George Washington University's Law School and a prolific writer, observed in the New York Times,