Rest in Peace, Ruth Bader Ginsburg…May Your Legacy Live On

As we wish a tearful farewell to our beloved RBG, Justice Ruth Badger Ginsburg, I pray and hope that we are not wishing farewell to all that she stood for.   She successfully fought against gender discrimination and enabled women like myself to have the right to work, the right to equal pay, the right to own our bodies, and the right to so many  other things that did not come easily to her.
    As I look at the nominee that President Trump is trying to ram through the confirmation process, Amy Coney Barrett, I am filled with fear as a woman, mother, and citizen of the United States.   Trump urged Republican lawmakers to appoint her “without delay” despite Ginsburg’s dying wish that her “successor will not be named until a new president is installed.”  Even at the end of her life, RBG knew that the installation of a justice prior to the election would undo all she had worked a lifetime to achieve.  
    If we take a look at Amy Coney Barrett’s short judicial record, it is clear that she is unable to separate Church from State.  She has voted in two abortion cases – both timesin favor of abortion restrictions that would require parental notification and allow the state to ban the procedure on the basis of race, sex, or Down syndrome diagnosis.  Barrett calls abortion immorally wrong and is willing to take the decision of having control over our own bodies out of the hands of women based on her personal beliefs.  However, she is unwilling to take guns out of the hands of convicted felons because their rights must be protected, and she believes government should not interfere there.  Judge Barrett ruled in favor of a man who claimed his serious felony conviction should not prohibit him from possessing firearms.  Let me get this straight.  Government intervention on whether a convicted felon can have a firearm is overreach of the government’s powers but government intervention on when and how women should have babies is not?  Why? Because it goes against her personal beliefs.
    While we view the United States as having been a land of equal opportunity for all for decades,  it is unknown to many that woman like RBG faced many forms of discrimination and it is because of the adversity they faced, they fought to secure women equal rights.  Here are some things women could not do in the United States in 1970: 1) Women could not report spousal rape 2) Women could not report Workplace Discrimination on the Basis of Pregnancy 3) Women could not own Credit Cards in their own names 4) Women could not attend military academies 5) Women could not get Abortions throughout the country 6) Women could not serve on juries in all States.  It has only been 50 years since we received these rights and they can very easily be taken away based on the make-up of the Supreme Court, where all final decisions reside and the appointments are lifetime which is why the balance in this court is crucial!
    The future of our country and what it stands for – equality for all regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, sexual orientation is at risk!  And each one of you have the power to help cast the deciding vote.  There is nothing more important you can do in the coming months except prepare to vote and vote in the November election.  October 5 – Last day to register to vote! October 7 – Early voting begins.  October 23 – Deadline to request a ballot online, a ballot by mail, or an in-person ballot. October 27 – recommended deadline to return your ballot.  If you do one thing this year, please get out there and vote so we are not pushed back into a history where women were second class citizens of this country!