Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is under mounting pressure to retire, as speculation about her health swirls.

The pressure is coming from her allies on the left, who fear Republicans will be able to choose her replacement if Joe Biden loses re-election.

Sotomayor under pressure

At 69 years of age, Sotomayor isn't the oldest justice on the court, but neither is she the youngest.

She is also diabetic, and recent reports that she sometimes travels with a medic have underscored concerns about her health.

Among those urging Sotomayor to step down is progressive journalist Josh Barro.

In a recent Substack post, he fretted that Democrats are prioritizing identity politics over what's logical for the party. Sotomayor is the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

“You’re worried about putting control of the court completely out of reach for more than a generation, but you can’t criticize an official who’s putting your entire policy project at risk because she is Hispanic?” he wrote.

An article in New York by Jonathan Chait urged Sotomayor to "get real" and start playing the "game" of partisan politics.

Chait pushed back on the "myth," upheld by Sotomayor and her colleagues, that the Supreme Court is above the fray.

"The rules of the game encourage parties to install the youngest and most politically reliable justices they can. The question before Sotomayor is whether she’ll play the game or pretend it isn’t happening," Chait wrote.

Repeating RBG's mistake?

The left looks to Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a a cautionary tale about pride getting in the way of the greater good, as they understand it, anyway.

RBG's death in 2020 at the age of 87 allowed President Trump to appoint Amy Coney Barrett, solidifying a 6-3 conservative majority on the court.

The left's frustration with the majority has escalated in light of recent decisions favorable to President Trump, as well as its historic ruling overturning Roe v. Wade. 

In a remarkable display of partisan passion, President Biden blasted the court's justices during his State of the Union Address last week. Despite the rumors about her health, Sotomayor was one of six justices present for Biden's diatribe.

During a recent talk at UC Berkeley, Sotomayor admitted that she finds her workload difficult to bear, but she suggested she isn't going anywhere.

“What choice do you have but to fight the good fight?” Sotomayor said.

“You can’t throw up your hands and walk away. And that’s not a choice. That’s an abdication. That’s giving up," she concluded.