Justice Ginsburg has heart stent inserted

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent emergency heart surgery to have a stent implanted in a coronary artery and is recuperating in a Washington-area hospital, the court said.

The 81-year-old Ginsburg, a two-time cancer survivor, is expected to be released in the next 48 hours, the court said in a one-paragraph statement. She was hospitalized after experiencing discomfort last night during exercise at the court, and doctors discovered a blockage in her right coronary artery.

Ginsburg expects to take the bench next week, when the court is scheduled to hear arguments in six cases and issue opinions, according to Kathy Arberg, the court's spokeswoman.

The court's oldest justice and the leader of its liberal wing, Ginsburg has said several times that she has no plans to retire anytime soon. She survived pancreatic cancer in 2009 and colon cancer in 1999 and prided herself on not missing any of the court's public sessions.

A 1993 appointee of President Bill Clinton, Ginsburg supports abortion rights and affirmative action and voted to uphold President Barack Obama's health-care law.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohrbloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Patrick Oster at posterbloomberg.net Mark McQuillan, Laurie Asseo