Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced today that she's being treated for a recurrence of cancer, the fourth bout of cancer she's been through. Ginsburg said in a statement released by the Supreme Court that doctors found lesions on her liver in February, and that she has been undergoing chemotherapy, which is going well. In the statement, she wrote,
I have often said I would remain a member of the court as long as I can do the job full steam. [...] I remain fully able to do that.
The statement said that a recent scan on July 7 "indicated significant reduction of the liver lesions and no new disease."
We frankly believe Ruth Bader Ginsburg is doing her very best to become immortal, but we'd be relieved if she had fewer opportunities to put that determination to the test, thank you very much. In addition, Ginsburg wrote,
I am tolerating chemotherapy well and am encouraged by the success of my current treatment. 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.
Ginsburg made clear that her recent hospitalizations, for gallstones in May and to treat an infection earlier this week, were unrelated to the cancer. During her May hospitalization, she participated in online oral arguments. Her statement today remained silent on which of her colleagues flushed the toilet during that May videoconference.
The Washington Post reminded us again, as it did when Chief Justice John Roberts fell and hit his head in June, that it's left to individual Supreme Court justices to decide what health information to disclose, and when. This is why Justice Samuel Alito has never had to admit that he was grown in a vat in a secret basement of the Federalist Society's Washington headquarters, from genetic material taken from the late Antonin Scalia.
Ginsburg said in her statement that she had decided to disclose the new cancer diagnosis because she's "satisfied that my treatment course is now clear."
Ginsburg needs to hang on because while we knew that Mitch McConnell has already said that he would confirm a new justice to the Court during an election year — despite his bullshit "let the voters decide" rhetoric in 2016 — we hadn't actually seen his insane made-up justification for it. WaPo reports McConnell said the difference in 2020 "was that in this election year, the same political party controls the White House and Senate." He's big on traditions he pulls out of his ass.
We're glad to hear that Notorious RBG appears to be handling this latest health scare with her usual aplomb and ass-kickingness, and we hope she continues to serve on the Court well into Joe Biden's first term. And for fuckssake let's all please get out and vote for Joe Biden so if she decides she wants to retire, she can. She may be doing okay, but we're a wreck.
[ NPR / WaPo / Photo: European University Institute, Creative Commons License 2.0 ]
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They did. 2013 was the year to do it. Obama had just started his second term. Why she didn't step down is baffling to me. I really hope it's not something that proves a massive, major, monumental mistake in the next few months.