Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Abortion Controversy Explained

Learn about the abortion controversy of the late American Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The late associate justice of the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, recently passed away due to metastatic pancreas cancer on September 18, 2020. She was 87 years of age. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton as a Supreme Court Justice in 1993, and she served there till 2020. 

Late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an advocate for gender equality and women's rights throughout her legal career. She worked in the Court as the most senior member of the court's liberal wing and pushed forward some of the most important issues like abortion rights, same-sex marriage, voting rights, immigration, health care, and affirmative action. Her main contribution as a Supreme Court Justice was her defense of abortion and reproductive rights over the years;  her relentless effort on the support of such controversial topics is truly remarkable. Below, we take a look at the controversies surrounded Justice Ginsburg during her fight for abortion and gender equality.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Abortion Stance Helped Protect One of the Most Important Women's Reproductive Rights For Years in the United States

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the main liberal justice in the Supreme Court to push for the women's abortion rights, among a few pro abortion justices in the office. She continually fought for and made arguments on behalf of the right to legal and safe abortion in her 30 years of service at the court. She made a relentless effort toward the cause even till the very end. In her last vote on the case of reproductive rights, she and the fellow justice Sonia Sotomayor were the only ones restricting a ruling that would allow almost any company to get out of providing government-mandated insurance for contraception if the employers had any kind of moral or religious objection to it. 

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the main liberal justice in the Supreme Court to push for women's abortion rights.
Source: Politico

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg believed that abortion rights gave women freedom, and in her dissent in the 2007 case Gonzales v. Carhart, she called the right to abortion 'a right declared again and again by this court — and with increasing comprehension of its centrality to women's lives.' Although she could not prevent the ban on 'partial birth abortion,' she later succeeded in the establishment of abortion rights in 1973.

One important decision made by Justice Ginsburg was on the case of the doctors and clinics not having the legal authority to interfere with women's right to seek an abortion. A group, which was in support of a Louisiana abortion access law that gives doctors the power to admit patients they prefer at a nearby hospital, was trying to bring change to the law. Ginsburg argued that the admitting privileges, if provided to the doctors, would not serve any medical benefit, and hence dismissed the case. She also stressed that the abortions 'don't have any complications' and notably said if a complication were to occur, it would likely happen once the woman returned home.

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Late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dod not just argue for gender equality and reproductive rights, but also persuaded men to take a stance for women's rights and change their abortion views. She succeeded in influencing the panel of Supreme Court judges, which was dominated by men, to gradually bring down patriarchy and sexism prevalent in society and the system.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Also Stood Up For Voting Rights Act

Voting Rights Act of the United States legislation restricts any discrimination between people on their voting rights, regardless of the color of their skin. Justice Ginsburg fought for the protection of the law, as some lawmakers also once attempted to enact a voter suppression law that could prevent people of color from their power to elect a representative in an election.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also stood up for the Voting Rights Act.
Source: History

Justice Ginsburg expressed her dissent in Shelby County on the racist attempts by some legislators to dismantle the Voting Rights Act. In her dissent, she presented logical reasoning in support of the act, that she believed could convince her nation to be more respectful of voting rights next time.

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Did Not Advocate Lowering of the Age of Consent

There was a Facebook post a few months ago that claimed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg advocated to lower the age of consent to 12 years old. Similar posts also emerged after the demise of Ginsburg on September 18. The claims are made in accordance with a hearing in July 1993 on Ginsburg's nomination to the Supreme Court. At the time, Susan Hirschmann, executive director of Eagle Forum, interpreted Ginsburg's recommendations from a report co-authored by Ginsburg as 'the age of consent for sexual acts must be lowered to 12 years old.'

Some false posts emerged on Facebook claiming that Ruth Bader Ginsburg advocated lowering the age of consent to 12 years old.
Source: The New York Times

But actually, the report was advocating for gender-neutral language in federal statutes. It was instead held as an example of such neutral language in proposed legislation at the time. Many tried such false accusations to bring her down, but they never succeeded. She will always remain one of the most important figures in the history of the American justice system.

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