Venerable U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been hospitalized after a serious fall in her office. The court made the announcement Thursday morning (Nov. 8).

The 85-year-old liberal justice fell Wednesday night and fractured three ribs.

A news release from the Supreme Court stated the justice was rushed to George Washington University Hospital in Washington in the early morning hours after waking and sharing with her caregivers in the home she was experiencing discomfort overnight.

Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two previous bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014.

The justice is the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court. Ronald Reagan appointed the first woman, Sandra Day O-Connor. Ginsburg has entered into the pop culture of the left with t-shirts bearing her image and “Notorious” emblazoned under her diminutive image.

Ginsburg has most recently been known to fall asleep during State-of-the-Union addresses by Presidents Obama and Trump.

With Republicans having secured a historic gain of Senate seats in the mid-term elections on Nov. 6, the next appointment by President Trump is expected to be more easily confirmed.

When Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed last month by a one-vote margin, court watchers immediately set their eyes on Ginsburg as the next expected departure from the Court.

Trump has indicated he would choose a woman for his next Supreme Court nomination.

If the races are called in Florida and Arizona, Republicans are expected to have a 53-vote majority in the Senate and if they win in a run-off in Mississippi where the Republican currently leads, then a 54 seat margin.

–Dwight Widaman