Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg Right?

[William769]

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]

1. Let's not take Ginsburg's comments about abortion out of context.

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]

2. I don't believe they are being taken out of context.

I also believe what she said to be true.

[merrily]

3. I am not accusing you, William. I saw it done by someone else on another thread.

So, I was giving a caution in general. My comment was not aimed at you at all.

[geek tragedy]

4. I see it more like desegregation--courts had/have to break the logjam.

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]

5. It would be good to see or read

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]

6. It has become clear that the backlash

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.