Interpretations and Lessons from RBG
Book Review of Conversations with RBG : Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life , Love , Liberty , and Law , by Jeffrey Rosen , published by Picador , Henry Holt and Company , 2019 .
DEBORAH S . EBEL Deborah S . Ebel , LLC debel @ ebelfamilylaw . com
Introduction : The Timeliness of This Book
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (“ RBG ”) is known as the Thurgood Marshall of equality between men and women , and the most celebrated women ’ s rights lawyer and Supreme Court Justice in the 20th and 21st century to date . Although RBG criticized the reasoning which supported Roe v . Wade and disagreed with the judicial activism in which the Supreme Court engaged in Roe , RBG of course fully supported the concept that women have a constitutional right of choice .
In 2018 , the Mississippi state legislature passed the Gestational Age Act , which allowed abortion after 15 weeks “ only in medical emergencies or for fetal abnormality .” The law has no exception for rape or incest . Doctors who perform abortions outside the parameters of this law would have their medical licenses suspended or revoked and may be subject to additional penalties and fines .
Mississippi ’ s Gestational Age Act was challenged by the Center for Reproductive Rights , and so far , this law has been declared patently unconstitutional based on stare decisis . After heated debate at the Supreme Court for months on end , the Court finally announced on May 17 , 2021 , that it had accepted the appeal by Mississippi ’ s Attorney General . The name of the case is Dobbs v .
Jackson Women ’ s Health Organization , No . 19-1392 . On July 22 , 2021 , Mississippi ’ s Attorney General filed a brief in which she urged the high court to rule that a state may prohibit elective abortions before viability . Oral argument is set for the Fall of 2021 , with a decision expected in June 2022 .
RBG predicted that Roe would never be overturned due to the value of 50 years of precedent , and the re-affirmation of Roe in the 1992 Supreme Court opinion in Planned Parenthood v . Casey . We shall soon see whether RBG ’ s prediction was right . As we approach the anniversary of her passing , and the upcoming Supreme Court term , Conversations with RBG is quite timely .
14 July / August 2021