Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg Right?
In the very definition of 'necessary but dangerous,' could a pro-marriage equality ruling from the Supreme Court stop 'the momentum that was on the side of change?'Ruth Bader Ginsburg is undoubtedly a national treasure, for her sharp legal mind, reasoned, thoughtful decisions, and stalwart defense of feminism, equal rights, and most things progressive.
That's why many pundits were caught off-guard by her 2013 comments about Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
"My concern [was that] that the court had given opponents of access to abortion a target to aim at relentlessly," she told students at the University of Chicago Law School, as reported by the Associated Press. "My criticism of Roe is that it seemed to have stopped the momentum that was on the side of change."
Swap out the phrase "marriage equality" for "abortion" in the above quote, and it's not hard to see how the argument could apply to the question of our fundamental right to marry.
http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2015/04/23/ruth-bader-ginsburg-right
merrily
(45,251 posts)It's difficult, because I don't think her entire speech is online. However, she said things like, an abortion decision should have been focused on a woman's right to choose, not a doctor's right to practice medicine.
She also said it gave opponents of choice a target. I can't argue with that. Republicans are still getting votes and raising money on Roe v. Wade.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/11/ruth-bader-ginsburg-roe-v-wade_n_3261187.html
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-offers-critique-roe-v-wade-during-law-school-visit
William769
(55,783 posts)I also believe what she said to be true.
merrily
(45,251 posts)So, I was giving a caution in general. My comment was not aimed at you at all.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Ending Jim Crow is now seen as something that was inevitable and there's been zero movement to revisit it. So it would be with a pro-equality.
Susannah Elf
(140 posts)the whole speech. Not because I question her meaning from this small excerpt, but because I'd like to see where she goes from there. Maybe she has thoughts on how marriage rights legislation can move the country forward on all LGBT issues.
Susannah Elf
(140 posts)against marriage equality has given the anti-gay people a very narrow target on which to focus, and all other concerns have fallen by the wayside.