Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a veteran of the Supreme Court and an icon to many in the Democratic party, died on Thursday night due to complications from pancreatic cancer.
She was 87 years old.
The court, in a statement, said Ginsburg passed away at her home in Washington, surrounded by family members and loved ones.
“Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.
“We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague.
“Today we mourn but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her, a tired and resolute champion of justice.”
Ginsburg was the second woman ever elected to the highest court in the land and she served 27 years as one of nine justices.
Her health, however, has been a constant source of concern and speculation for awhile now, however.
She was treated with chemotherapy in 2020 for a recurrence of pancreatic cancer — first treated in 2009 — that spread to her liver, and had four prior cancer diagnoses.
In 1999, she had surgery for colorectal cancer.
Aware that she didn’t have very long, and also aware of the intense political battle ahead to possibly fill her vacant with fewer than two months until Presidential Election Day, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera:
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Most political observers, however, expect Senator Mitch McConnell and President Donald Trump to move quickly in order fill this vacant seat with a Conservative.
Democrats, citing the proximity of Election Day, will do everything they can to prevent this from happening.
Former President George W. Bush, meanwhile, has released the following statement:
“Laura and I join our fellow Americans in mourning the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“She dedicated many of her 87 remarkable years to the pursuit of justice and equality, and she inspired more than one generation of women and girls.”
A prominent legal crusader, Ginsberg led the fight in the courts for gender equality and social justice.
Diminutive in stature, but outspoken, brave and brilliant, Ginsgerg turned into something of a rock star later in life.
She was the subject of a popular documentary, a biopic, an operetta, merchandise galore featuring her “Notorious RBG” moniker, a Time magazine cover, and regular Saturday Night Live sketches.
“I am 84 years old and everyone wants to take a picture with me,” she said in the aformentioned 2018 documentary.
That same year, Hollywood made a film of her life story, On the Basis Of Sex, starring Felicity Jones as Ginsburg and Armie Hammer as her husband, Martin Ginsburg.
During a 2018 talk at Columbia University’s Law School, Ginsburg spoke of what she loved most in life.
“The tremendous luck I have had, I am a very lucky woman, starting with my dear spouse and my family, two children of whom I am very proud,” she said.
“I love beautiful music, I love the work I do. I think I have the best job in the world for a lawyer.”
Ginsburg is survived by her daughter, Jane, and her son, James.
Her husband of 56 years, Martin, died in 2010.
May Ruth Bader Ginsburg rest in peace.