In losing someone so influential to our world we are called to look back at their impact and honor it. In doing so these past few days my timeline of feminine achievement has shifted immensely. How could someone I walked the earth with have to fight so hard for the privileges I don’t have to think twice about? I was deeply saddened to hear of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing but, I was also scared. RBG moved human rights mountains, and with an unfit replacement for her seat on The Supreme Court, that hard work and progression can be reversed.
Born in Brooklyn 1933, the women’s rights activist was 1 of 9 women in her Harvard law class, A law clerk to a judge in the US District Court, The first woman hired with tenure at Columbia University School of Law, an ACLU general council member, and a Judge of the US Court of Appeals.
In 1993 President Bill Clinton appointed Judge Ginsburg to the Supreme Court, filling the seat vacated by Justice Byron White, making her the second woman ever to be on the bench. It’s hard, to sum up, all she accomplished in her lifetime.
Before Ginsburg, State – Funded schools didn’t have to admit women. In the United States v. Virginia case, Ginsburg argued that it is unconstitutional for schools funded by taxpayer dollars to bar women.
Ginsburg paved the way for the Equal Credit Opportunity Act which allowed women to sign a mortgage or have a bank account without a male co-signer.
She helped make large strides toward equal pay. Her opinion and call to action on a pay discrimination case of 2007 inspired the public and congress to strengthen equal pay protections.
Ginsburg’s crucial vote to keep Roe v. Wade preserved a women’s right to choose and was a strong brick in the legal wall that protected the right. This right is in jeopardy with RBG’s passing.
She pushed to protect pregnant women in the workplace from being fired and excluded unjustly.
Ginsburg’s vote in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case allowed queer women and the rest of the LGBTQ community the right to same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
In addition to her mark on the legal world, RBG became a role model for all women to be a confident, hard-working female leader. An unlikely pop-culture Icon that is celebrated and continues to empower all generations. RBG fought the good fight her entire life.
It is clear that Mitch McConnell will not rest in giving the prestige position to Trump’s candidate. In doing so he is neglecting RBG’s dying wish and dishonoring her life’s work. Ruth Bader Ginsburg showed up everyday in sickness and in health to fight for our civic rights. Honor her by showing up to the polls and taking part in your civic duty. Vote.
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