It's been widely suspected that Ginsburg would probably be the first of the nine justices to retire, and this will probably speed the process. Another likely candidate would be Justice Stevens who is well into his 80's. They are the two most liberal judges on the court.
Obama might actually have a hard time replacing them with justices as liberal as they were. I would hope that the GOP would insist on more moderate nominees, given the way the Dems stopped conservative Bush appointees.
We'll see, but it looks like a retirement is now quite likely.
UPDATE: Here's more from Fox:
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery Thursday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the court said.
Ginsburg, 75, had the surgery at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. She will remain in the hospital for seven to 10 days, said her surgeon, Dr. Murray Brennan, according to a release issued by the court.
The court announcement said the cancer is apparently in the early stages.
In 1999, Ginsburg had surgery for colon cancer and had chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The only woman on the court, she has been a justice since 1993.
The pancreatic cancer was discovered during a routine, annual exam late last month at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.
A CAT scan revealed a tumor measuring about 1 centimeter across the center of the pancreas, the court said.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers: Nearly 38,000 cases a year are diagnosed and overall, fewer than 5 percent survive five years.
The reason: Fewer than one in 10 cases are diagnosed at an early stage -- like Ginsburg's appears to be -- before the cancer has begun spreading through the abdomen and beyond. That's because early pancreatic cancer produces few symptoms other than vague indigestion.
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