On September 18th, 2020, the world received the devasting news that Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, had passed from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer. If you do not know who she was, here is some background on her:
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She was the second female justice to serve in the U.S. Supreme Court.
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She became the first female tenured professor at Columbia University Law School in 1972.
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RBG was named to the Supreme Court in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.
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She dedicated her entire career as a justice to the fight for gender equality.
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She was the first female member of Harvard Law Review.
To call Ginsburg a trailblazer would be an understatement. She stood and fought for women, people of color, and those who cannot or are too afraid to speak up. Many women (and men!) looked up to her. RBG opened so many doors for women.
One of the many, many doors opened was mandating state-funded schools to admit women. In the 1996 case, the United States v. Virginia Justice Ginsburg ruled that Virginia Military Institute was violating the 14th amendment by having a men-only admission policy. RBG, herself, also defied stereotypes by being one of nine women in a class of 500 at Harvard Law. Both of these circumstances are the reason some many women now attend college.
Another very important thing we women have to thank her for is legal abortions. In 1993 at her Supreme Court confirmation hearings Ginsburg declared that abortions are a constitutional right. She said, “But you asked me about my thinking about equal protection versus individual autonomy, and my answer to you is it’s both. This is something central to a woman’s life, to her dignity. It’s a decision that she must make for herself. And when Government controls that decision for her, she’s being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.” She went on to fight for legal abortion and in general better healthcare for women for the 27 years she served on the Supreme Court.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of the most groundbreaking women in history. Through her 27 years served as a justice, she tirelessly fought for any and every injustice women and minorities faced. She was an inspiration to all ages and will be dearly missed.