RBG
The recent passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg comes at a raw moment — we find ourselves as a nation clinging to our shining moments to light the way out of a seemingly perpetual darkness. RBG was that shining light. Her brilliance, her dedication to the law as a tool for good, and her intolerance of inequity have cemented her legacy as one of the most effective and powerful judicial figures of our time.
The second woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg shouldered her way into a legal world that held little space for her or for her gender. The revolution in her tenure was not only in the seat that she filled, but also in her refusal to concede womanhood to legal, political or social inferiority.
“Inherent differences between men and women, we have come to appreciate, remain cause for celebration,” she wrote for the majority in United States v. Virginia, a case brought to the Supreme Court challenging the Virginia Military Institute’s refusal to admit women, “but not for denigration of the members of either sex or for artificial constraints on an individual's opportunity.”
With rulings like this, she built a legal portfolio that was distinctly dedicated to anti-sexism. She fought the artificial constraints society placed on Americans when it comes to reproductive freedom. In cases like Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, she challenged Hobby Lobby’s refusal to provide insurance-covered contraceptives as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. “Mindful of the havoc the Court’s judgment can introduce," she wrote, "I dissent.”
Both her dissents and her writings for the majority were thus instrumental in establishing legal protections for the disenfranchised. Justice Ginsburg approached complex legal quandaries with a steady, quiet observance — when it came to landmark cases that protected the right to choose, she represented the resolute voice those with uteruses could count on to fight for their bodily autonomy. Now that she is gone, the decision of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, could be overturned. Uncertainty around who will replace her on the Supreme Court and whether or not that person’s nomination and appointment will take place under a Trump presidency have thrown our nation into a rightful panic.
Just last year, Republicans here in the Wisconsin state Legislature passed four anti-abortion bills, among them one that “would have cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood,” and one that “prohibited abortions based on the fetus' race, sex or defects.” If not for Gov. Tony Evers’ vetoes, those bills could have become law. It is not unlikely then that the right to receive an abortion will continue to face attacks from the GOP here in Wisconsin and across the country; without Roe v. Wade, our last line of defense could be obsolete.
Reproductive rights aren’t only what’s at stake in the wake of RBG’s death; marriage equality, affordable healthcare, and climate reform all hang in the balance as well.
Justice Ginsburg’s passing felt like a gut punch to many of us not just because her seat could be filled with a right-wing, Trump-appointed, hatefully misguided appointee, but because the woman herself, the protector of our right to determine our bodily destiny, was gone. (Trump is expected today to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett, “the favorite candidate of conservatives,” according to the New York Times.)
Yet, we found that we could not separate our mourning for an accomplished powerhouse woman with our fear for our future. That the absence of her voice will change the course of our history as much as the presence of it did during her tenure. Perhaps that is also a reflection of a failing of our democracy — that the moral balance of our government can teeter on the wellbeing of a single human.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg inspired so many of us with her strength, perseverance, and dedication to justice. We will miss her tremendously. In my mourning of her, I’ve reflected on the many women in my life who mirror her steady perseverance and dedication to the pursuit of justice. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez fights unapologetically for the working class, serves as a check on unregulated corporate greed, and is an unrelenting voice of those unheard. Closer to home, Maggie Gau, chief of staff to Evers, played a tremendous role in the defeat of former Gov. Scott Walker and now leads an office gracefully through unprecedented Republican obstructionism.
These women, and many others, stand as gatekeepers of the worst of the GOP’s attacks on our livelihoods and along with RBG, remind us that #girlpower is revolutionary. With that reminder, and for a moment, we can set aside our uncertainty for the future and celebrate the life and legacy of Justice Ginsburg as she deserves.
All is not lost.
May Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s memory be a blessing and may the magic of her spirit and work drive justice forward long after we all leave the earth.
Nada Elmikashfi is a former candidate for state Senate and chief of staff to state Rep. Francesca Hong.
