Its not abortion, but politics

It is no great secret that President Bush is likely to be able to appoint at least one and as many as four Justices of the Supreme Court. Of course, such a scenario is a nightmare for the Left, but it doesn't have to be. Everyone is worried about abortion and whether that issue will be a litmus test, but given that the divide in the nation is pretty entrenched, each side may have to settle for a middle of the road candidate--a concern given that the GOP just named conservative Sam Brownback (R-KS) and arch-conservative Tom Coburn (R-OK) to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

but abortion is not the real issue that should be of concern to the the country. The real issue is the legitimacy of the elected government going forward. In the last year, the Supreme Court has addressed several issues related to the issue of redistricting of Congressional and state legislative districts. The Court issued a confusing decision in the case of Vieth v. Jubelirer (see an opinion on the case) earlier this year. See some additional commentary, here, a little bit here, and here.

Right now the court is split 4-1-4 along fairly ideological grounds, with Justice Anthony Kennedy occupying the middle. The Court will have to face the issues related to redistricting soon, since the very nature of the issue affects the fundamental nature of our republican form of government. The current manner in which most states draw their lines is extraordinarily partisan and likely to become more so in the next round of districting. The Court will have to determine how to handle such issues because the way the lines are drawn can greatly effect the nature of the representatives that are elected, just ask former U.S. Congressmen in Texas, four of whom lost their seats in 2004 due to the harshly partisan gerrymandering in Texas.

The fact of the matter is that abortion positions have not changed in the 30 years since Roe v. Wade and the Court isn't likely to alter it without extraordinary cause. But the Court will have to address the manner in which our representatives are elected.