Friday, February 13, 2015

After 50 Years, Supreme Court Justice Pushes Forward in the Fight for Women's Rights

At the age of 81, current Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has devoted over half a century of her life to the fight for women's rights, and she is not about to quit. Ginsburg is the second female justice in US history, appointed after Sandra Day O'Connor, and the only justice with previous experience in women's rights advocacy. Now, the only remaining female justice, since O'Connor's retirement in 2006, Justice Ginsburg is even more dedicated to breaking down "arbitrary barriers…in women's way" and changing the country's negative "unconscious bias" toward women.

Throughout her career, she has ruled cases over topics such as pay discrimination, abortion restrictions and college admissions for women, making her an unstoppable force on the quest for gender equality that has caught the eye of many liberals and young activists. Those who are most difficult to influence, however, are her male colleagues, she said, "who haven't had the experience of growing up female." Having faced discrimination from the day after she graduated from Columbia Law School, a class of nine females amongst 500 males, she makes it a priority to teach her colleagues to appreciate the obstacles women often face throughout their lifetime.

Justice Ginsburg's voice will be heard loud and clear during the upcoming court cases on gay marriage, health-care laws and perhaps one of the most important issues for women across the country, the workplace rights of pregnant women. Hopefully, we can expect to see some legal change in the imminent future on these important social issues.

For more details about Justice Ginsberg's career, and to watch her interview with Bloomberg, visit:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-12/ruth-bader-ginsburg-isn-t-giving-up-her-fight-for-women-s-rights?hootPostID=c888c76f3542353a86c3fc143b48a152
Posted by MWPC at 5:30 PM