Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Despite making it clear he had a litmus test for abortion for Supreme Court nominees, top pro-abortion groups issued tepid support for nominee Elena Kagan when President Barack Obama announced her name. Now, they have come around and are strongly supporting her bid for the high court.

After pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement, NARAL president Nancy Keenan promised her group would thoroughly evaluate Kagan.

"Given the current composition of the court, we will assess the eventual nominee's complete record on privacy and other relevant issues in the same way we did during Justice Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation process," she said in April...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- President Barack Obama may have reduced his short list for the Supreme Court to as few as four names, including two strong abortion advocates. Meanwhile, a pro-life group is calling on the president to keep in mind the consideration of Americans who don't want to see abortion expanded further.

White House officials have said about 10 names are currently under consideration to replace retiring pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens.

The number on Obama's short list, however, is likely far fewer and the Wall St. Journal reports today that four people are seen as the likely nominee...

The nation's largest public policy women's organization is not too encouraged by the list of possible replacements for Justice John Paul Stevens, who has announced he is retiring from the Supreme Court.

Concerned Women for America (CWA) says the news of Stevens' retirement came as no shock as Stevens, who turns 90 on April 20, had been sending signals for the White House to be prepared for his announcement.

"Justice Stevens was very up front that he held on," comments Penny Nance, chief executive officer of CWA. "He was waiting for an extreme left administration before he was willing to retire, and so retiring he is"....

WASHINGTON – The retirement of John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court's leading liberal but a justice who also could find conservative allies, will set off an election-year political battle over President Barack Obama's second high court pick.

Stevens said Friday he will step down when the court finishes its work for the summer in late June or early July. He said he hopes his successor will be confirmed "well in advance of the commencement of the court's next term." Obama hailed Stevens as an "impartial guardian of the law" and promised to move quickly to nominate a replacement....

Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, the court's oldest member and leader of its liberal bloc, said Friday he is retiring, Fox News has confirmed, giving President Obama his second high court opening to fill.

In a letter to the president, Stevens, the longest active serving member, said he has "concluded that it would be in the best interests of the Court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the Court's next Term" in October.

Stevens said he will step down when the court finishes its work for the summer in late June or early July.

In a written statement, Chief Justice John Roberts said Stevens "has earned the gratitude and admiration of the American people for his nearly 40 years of distinguished service to the Judiciary, including more than 34 years on the Supreme Court"...

A constitutional law expert believes a federal appeals judge in Washington, DC, is the frontrunner to replace liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Justice Stevens is expected to retire by the end of the high court's current term, April 28 -- and Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice, believes Obama is likely to appoint a man to replace Stevens.

"When [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg retires, which will happen very soon, there will be a lot of pressure to appoint a woman," Levey comments. "And so if he appoints a woman now, that's three women in a row -- which isn't a bad thing, but it sort of limits your choices when you have to appoint three women in a row or three anything in a row"...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Should pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens decide in the coming days or weeks to retire, three potential replacements have been named as the most likely candidates to replace him. Two of the potential nominees for President Barack Obama are longtime pro-abortion activists.

The most talked about potential nominees include U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appellate judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland.

Those names have been in the news before and a White House official confirmed Sunday to Bloomberg News that those names are prominent on Obama's list of replacements...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- With the fight against the pro-abortion health care bill in Congress over and attorneys taking the cause to courts, pro-life advocates may not have much time to rest before the next battle begins. There is talk that pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens may retire and open up a seat on the Supreme Court.

Should Stevens step down in the coming weeks, the question will be whether President Barack Obama wants to spend more of what little political capital he has remaining.

He could opt for a far-left pro-abortion nominee to keep the seat in line with Steven's philosophy and position as one of the members of the five-justice pro-abortion majority supporting Roe v. Wade...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The main talk in the nation's capital today is that President Barack Obama may have the chance to appoint two new Supreme Court justices soon. That's because two of the members of the high court's 5-4 pro-abortion majority are facing advancing age and health issues and may consider retirement.

Obama's ability to appoint another pro-abortion stalwart to the high court after his naming Justice Sonia Sotomayor, would have the effect of further entrenching the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions.

Together they allowed for virtually unlimited abortions and have resulted in more than 52 million abortions in the decades following 1973.

Today, ABC News indicates top Obama administration attorneys are preparing background information on several potential nominees because they are expecting not one, but two retirements between now and when Obama runs for re-election in 2012...

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired fewer law clerks than usual, generating speculation that the leader of the court's liberals will retire next year.

If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama his second high court opening in two years. Obama chose Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the court when Justice David Souter announced his retirement in May.

Souter's failure to hire clerks was the first signal that he was contemplating leaving the court...