Ginsburg says she's not retiring

WASHINGTON, July 1 (UPI) -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the senior female member of the U.S. Supreme Court, says she will stay on the job as long as her health permits.

Ginsburg, who has been a member of the court for 18 years and has survived two bouts with cancer, said in a USA Today report Friday she will stay on the court "as long as I can do the job."

She said she enjoys having two other women on the court, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

"I like the idea that we're all over the bench. It says women are here to stay," Ginsburg said.

Ginsburg, 78, said her biggest concern is the politicization of the court.

"What I care most about I think most of my colleagues do, too," Ginsburg said. "We want this institution to maintain the position that it has had in this system, where it is not considered a political branch of government."

Ginsburg said she feels good and she reiterated her vow to remain on the court at least to match the tenure of Justice Louis Brandeis. He retired at age 82 in 1939.

"I probably will at least equal him. But you have to take it year by year," Ginsburg said.