Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
Just when you thought that 2020 couldn’t get any worse, we have news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is battling cancer once again.
Ginsburg has been undergoing chemotherapy for cancerous lesions on her liver since May 19. A medical scan in February revealed the growths on her liver, and she has undergone treatment since then. “Immunotherapy first essayed proved unsuccessful,” she said in a statement. “The chemotherapy course, however, is yielding positive results. Satisfied that my treatment course is now clear, I am providing this information.”
A scan last week, on July 7, showed a significant reduction of the lesions and no new disease. “I am tolerating chemotherapy well and am encouraged by the success of my current treatment,” she said. “I will continue bi-weekly chemotherapy to keep my cancer at bay, and am able to maintain an active daily routine. Throughout, I have kept up with opinion writing and all other court work.”
That’s why we call her The Notorious RBG, folks. But what about her future on the Supreme Court? As usual, she has no plans to retire:
“I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam,” she said in a statement issued by the Supreme Court. “I remain fully able to do that.”
Ginsburg is the senior member of the high court’s four-member liberal wing. This is her fourth bout with cancer, and she’s been hospitalized twice (once in May and once earlier this week) since she was declared cancer free in January 2020.
Remember how President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, was denied a confirmation hearing in 2016 because it was an election year? That’s not going to happen this time around. Senator Mitch McConnell has said that if there were a vacancy on the Supreme Court, ‘Of course we’d fill it.”
Please pray and send healing thoughts to Justice Ginsburg for her health and well-being. We need her voice now more than ever on the Supreme Court.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Cancer Has Returned [New York Times]
Justice Ginsburg Undergoes Chemotherapy for Cancer Recurrence [National Law Journal]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.