Planned Parenthood lauds Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Brigid Leahy of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action analyzes her legacy and commits to protect it
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (U.S. Supreme Court)
By Ted Cox
When the Reproductive Health Act was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Pritzker last year, many of its supporters pointed out it gave women the same fundamental rights as men protecting their health care from government intrusion.
That, in fact, has been an argument Planned Parenthood and other reproductive-rights groups have repeated in the face of President Trump’s attempt to undermine Title X health care with his gag rule disallowing doctors to even discuss abortion if they work within the government subsidy program.
And the logic of that basic argument is part of the legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last Friday.
“She came at the issue of reproductive rights and abortion access at a different kind of legal angle,” said Brigid Leahy, senior director of public policy with Planned Parenthood Illinois Action. The 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing the right to an abortion “was argued on the right to privacy,” Leahy added. “She felt that there was an opportunity to actually argue it under the Equal Protection Clause” in the U.S. Constitution.
That was typical of Ginsburg’s approach, which was based on logic, legal precedent, and building consensus rather than issuing edicts. And it actually made some feminists suspicious of her when she was nominated to the high court by President Clinton in 1993.
That was the year Leahy joined Planned Parenthood, and she recalled, “It wasn’t completely clear” how firm a supporter Ginsburg was of the Roe ruling. Ginsburg was “hesitant to answer a lot of specifics about any kind of case that might come before her,” as was typical of Supreme Court nominees even then in the confirmation process. Yet she was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 96-3.
And, even though she’d established her reputation arguing cases before the high court in the ‘70s as founder of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project, it soon became clear just how firmly committed she was to equal rights under the law.
“She turned out to be an amazing voice and a voice that became stronger as the years went by,” Leahy said.
According to Leahy, Ginsburg’s approach was consistent whether arguing before the court or within the court later on as an associate justice. “When she started out and started her work around gender equality, she realized it was really important to have members of the judiciary understand the real lives of people — including people who were not like themselves,” Leahy said. The Supreme Court was all-male when she argued cases before it in the ‘70s, and later she found herself the only woman on the court after the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, before President Obama appointed Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
Whether on the outside or the inside, Leahy said, Ginsburg set out to “help those justices — and judges at the local level — understand and see the perspective of somebody who might not be like themselves, such as a woman, and a woman who is being discriminated against.”
That was the genius of her prolonged campaign, which followed the basic steps of Justice Thurgood Marshall on civil rights decades before in building incremental steps to lay the foundation for landmark rulings. That process is depicted in miniature in the feature film “On the Basis of Sex,” in which she brings the case of a Denver widower denied a tax deduction typically granted to widows. Once she got the court to acknowledge sexual discrimination from a man’s point of view, it established precedent to argue equal protection from a woman’s point of view — and any person’s point of view, as it turned out.
As Ginsburg said in one of her most memorable quotes: “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”
Ginsburg didn’t demonize her opponents, whether on the bench or arguing before it, but sought to persuade them. “While very strong in her convictions, she was able to connect personally with other people — like Justice Scalia,” Leahy said, pointing to her longtime friendship with arch-conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. “So they might be able to disagree on things, but they were also able to have conversations.”
Leading to another enduring Ginsburg quote: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
As the court swung right following appointments by President George W. Bush in the ‘90s, however, she more often found herself on the losing side of those arguments — and displayed the steel will in resistance that earned her the nickname “The Notorious RBG.”
“In particular, she was known for her dissents,” Leahy said, “that she would sometimes read from the bench” to particularly dramatic effect. “She turned out to be an amazing advocate for women and for reproductive rights.”
A spontaneous memorial forms on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court Friday following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. (Wikimedia Commons/Ben J)
Now those rights are in jeopardy as Ginsburg could be replaced by someone with little concern for them. The Reproductive Health Act was intended to secure them in Illinois no matter what happens with the Supreme Court, and Leahy said she expects it to hold the line.
“I think the most ironclad thing would be if we had something specific in our state constitution. That would be the gold standard,” she said. “But the Reproductive Health Act is very, very important and will protect people in the state of Illinois should the court go to an extreme direction of, let’s say, overturn Roe v. Wade or hollow it out to such a degree that Roe stands in name, but in practice people really cannot exercise their rights.”
One of its key provisions is recognizing fundamental rights to unrestricted health care, which Leahy called “the highest standard” legally, especially compared with the “undue burden” standard protecting the Roe decision on the federal level, which has made it easier for some states to attempt to undermine the precedent.
That doesn’t mean the rights Ginsburg defended aren’t in jeopardy on a national scale if she should be replaced by someone who doesn’t recognize them — especially with President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky insisting they intend to push through whoever Trump appoints, in defiance of the precedent McConnell himself set four years ago in refusing to allow confirmation hearings for Obama appointee Merrick Garland in an election year.
“There is no need to rush an appointment through,” Leahy said. “We are very discouraged and disappointed that it looks like Sen. McConnell wants to push through a nominee, potentially prior to an election.” In fact, she added, the election is already underway in some states with early voting, and Illinois joins those ranks Thursday.
“It’s very disturbing to think that they may be trying to push somebody through when we could end up with a different president and potentially a different Senate,” Leahy said. “Really, they’re just trying to — for lack of better words — set their person on the court instead of thinking about the future of our country and the future of how our government works.”
Instead, the country should be celebrating the life of Justice Ginsburg and her legacy as she’s mourned in the nation’s capital this week.
“Of course, we are so thankful for Justice Ginsburg’s service and her voice,” Leahy said, “and we hope that everyone will be inspired by her and to carry on her legacy, because her whole life — both before she came on to the Supreme Court and after — was focused on standing up for the basic rights of all of us, and we all should be inspired by that and use that inspiration to work on behalf of protecting our rights into the future and for future generations.”
Leahy said that the best way to honor Ginsburg now would be to honor her quoted final words: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” Leahy pointedly added, “We’re going to be fighting to make sure her last wish is honored.”