ruth bader ginsburg and her legacy

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an icon.

a fearless, powerful icon who paved the way for women's rights and gender equality in america.

she was strong. she was brave. and most of all, she was revolutionary.

after several ongoing battles with cancer, on september 18th 2020, she passed away leaving behind an extraordinary legacy. for almost 30 years, Ginsburg acted as a driving force for change and equality - changing the lives of millions of women (and men), not just in america, but all over the world.

Ginsburg was a proud jewish- american lawyer, jurist and associate justice of the us supreme court; she was the second, out of four, to be confirmed to court. after graduating at the top of class from columbia law, Ginsburg became one of the few women professors teaching at that time. she then spent most of her legal career as a champion for women's rights, lgbtq+ equality and other important human entitlements - always making sure her voice was heard. her most memorable moments was her fearlessness when supporting a women’s right to her own reproductive decisions, and her approach during the unforgettable roe v wade case.

roe v wade. on january 22, 1973, the supreme court passed its historic pronouncement in roe v. wade, invalidating a texas interpretation of abortion law - making abortion legal in the united states. the case involved a woman named norma mccorvey—known in the lawsuit as "jane roe” who became pregnant in 1969. she required an abortion, but lived in texas, where (well it was texas) abortion was illegal, except when it was essential to save the mother's life. she was teamed with lawyers who filed a lawsuit on her behalf in u.s. federal court against her local district attorney, henry wade, declaring that texas's abortion laws were unconstitutional. this was a huge controversy in america and began a momentous uprising, with millions debating the topic of abortion in america. our queen and legend Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was there during the trial supported roe and helped make abortion legal in america. to quote her she said “the decision of whether or not to bear a child is central to a women’s life, well- being and dignity. when the government makes that decision for her, she is being treated less than a full adult human responsible for her own choices”. this was just one of the many cases Ginsburg fought for, improving the lives of millions across the country.

another radical and monumental case, for the lgbtq+ community, was the 2015 obergefell v hodges; calling out the regressive attitudes of john bursch, the lawyer representing all the states who wanted to maintain the same-sex marriage ban. she justified that ‘marriage was a relationship of a dominant male to a subordinate female. would that be a choice that states still should be allowed to have? to cling to marriage the way it once was?’ she battled all the oppressors and stood her ground many times, inspiring those all around her. which led to the court ruling 5-4 in favour of legalizing same-sex marriage.

like i said, she was an icon.

she has personally changed my life in ways that i cannot begin to explain. despite not living in america, the work she has done in politics has inspired me here in the uk, her boldness and her progressive attitudes have influenced me to do politics and has encouraged me, and millions of others, to be true to ourselves and stand up for what we believe in.

now, not even a month after her passing, the american president (that terrible cheesy wotsit of a man) believes it’s suitable to replace her so soon and discontinue her legacy. the fact that he’s already appointing a new jurist before the election date is already inexcusable, but one would assume at least he’d make the effort to appoint a liberal, forward thinking feminist, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg was. like I said, this is trump we're talking about. so of course he decided to choose someone that would benefit his own hidden agendas and his political party viewpoints. someone who shares the same conservative, anti-equality, radical views as he does. let’s talk about amy coney barret, shall we..

amy coney barret is a 48 year old catholic judge who is on the u.s. court of appeal for the seventh circuit. she was a professor at notre dame and was actually shortlisted to be on the supreme court in 2017, that seat went to brent kavanaugh (which is another story for another day).

and her political viewpoints are quite…interesting.

her conservative views are very prominent and are seen through her actions and behaviour. barret has referred to abortion as ‘always immoral’ and has ruled twice in favour of upholding restrictions to abortion accesses. her hostility towards lgbtq+ civil rights is very apparent, and she has stated multiple times that she would vote do undo marriage equality. barret has also spoken out about the fact that she does not believe title ix protections should protect transgender people – and has purposely misgendered trans people and has referred to transgender women as ‘physiological males’ to their faces.

in fact, her views are so extreme that if she does go into power, american women are at risk of being investigated and criminally charged for miscarriage (miscarriage is the natural loss of a pregnancy, during the first 23 weeks – something a woman cannot, and I repeat cannot, control)

now i could probably carry on this list of things which are ‘controversial’(and by controversial i mean disgusting and discriminatory) about amy coney barret, but not only would that make me more angry and frustrated, it would also just be disrespectful to Ruth Bader Ginsburg that we’re giving trump and his agendas our time.

barret stands in pro-life; the complete opposite of what Ginsburg spent her life advocating for. barret does not believe in same sex marriage; the complete opposite of what Ginsburg spent her life advocating for. barret does not even believe in healthcare accessible for all; the complete opposite of what Ginsburg spent her life advocating for.

i think you can see i’m trying to make a point.

what i’m trying to say is that this lady is the antithesis of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. her extremist far right conservative views are, line by line, the direct opposite of everything Justice Ginsberg embodied her entire life. the fact that trump thinks it is okay to replace her with a woman who does not even believe in equality and basic human rights is outrageous. not to mention, that he is trying to do this before the 2020 presidential election– if she gets elected this would mean that the Supreme Court will be stuck with a traditionalist far right woman as a judge, whose opinions are not in line with the progressive views of our generation.

i think it is safe to assume, that america is in a predicament. the surge of extreme nationalism and patriotism in america is alarming, and if trump is elected in for 4 more years he could create even more havoc and disarray (he already has plans to change school curriculums to be more patriotic - from what i can remember from my gcse history, a certain nazi dictator did a similar thing in germany). by electing barret, he would be undoing Ginsburg’s lifework and everything she did to make america a better place – destroying her legacy.

so, to any americans reading this. please, please, please think carefully about who you’re going to be voting for – we have to make sure that trump is not elected to avoid america going to a deep dark place. election day in america is less than a month today, so try to make Ruth Bader Ginsburg proud – and vote trump out !