She was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 23, 1983, and received her commission the following day.

[2] In 1987, Reagan attempted to elevate Rymer to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by the elevation of Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court of the United States, but was rebuffed in the Senate.

However, on February 28, 1989, President George H. W. Bush nominated Rymer to the same seat, and this time, she was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 18, 1989, receiving her commission on May 22, 1989.

[3] In 2010, Rymer received the Stanford Medal for her volunteer work for the university, where two scholarship funds had been created in her name.

[1] One of the more notable opinions was in Planned Parenthood v. American Coalition of Life Activists (2002), which held that threats on the Internet against doctors who performed abortions were not protected by the First Amendment.