Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor diagnosed with 'beginning stages of dementia'

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, has been diagnosed with the "beginning stages of dementia," the retired justice revealed in a letter Tuesday.

The 88-year-old former justice said she "probably" has Alzheimer's disease, a form of dementia that develops over time and causes issues with memory and behaviour.

"I will continue living in Phoenix, Arizona surrounded by dear friends and family," she wrote. "While the final chapter of my life with dementia may be trying, nothing has diminished my gratitude and deep appreciation for the countless blessings of my life."

Ms O'Connor’s announcement of her diagnosis came a day after a story by the Associated Press that she had stepped back from public life and in which her son Jay O’Connor said that his mother had begun to have challenges with her short term memory.

He also said that hip issues have meant she now primarily uses a wheelchair and stays close to her home in Phoenix. Ms O’Connor last spoke in public more than two years ago.

The retired justice was a state court judge before being nominated to the Supreme Court in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan, who fulfilled a campaign promise by nominating a woman to the Supreme Court. She graduated third in her class from Stanford Law School and was the first woman to lead the Arizona state senate.

Ms O’Connor was 51 when she was unanimously confirmed to the high court. On the Supreme Court, her votes were key in cases about abortion, affirmative action and campaign finance as well as the Bush v. Gore decision effectively settling the 2000 election in George W. Bush’s favour.

"As a young cowgirl from the Arizona desert, I never could have imagined that one day I would become the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court," she wrote on Tuesday.

She was 75 when she announced her retirement from the court in 2005. It was a decision influenced by the decline in the health of her husband, John O’Connor III, who himself had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement that he was "saddened to learn" that O’Connor "faces the challenge of dementia."

"Although she has announced that she is withdrawing from public life, no illness or condition can take away the inspiration she provides for those who will follow the many paths she has blazed," he wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.