Official portrait of Justice Ginsburg
Steve Petteway, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke about legal equality and human rights at an event hosted by the National Woman’s Party held last weekend at the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument in Washington, D.C.
WLP Executive Director Carol Tracy and Senior Staff Attorney Susan Frietsche were honored to attend this small gathering of legal minds in a celebration of women’s rights, and all those who work to defend and advance them, on Women’s Equality Day.
The event was moderated by former Women’s Law Project law clerk Jill Morrison, now the Director of the Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program and Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa Program at Georgetown University.
Among other topics, Justice Ginsburg discussed why she still supports the Equal Rights Amendment:
“The Equal Rights Amendment is designed specifically to make women of equal citizenship stature in all aspects of human activity. Another reason why I am a proponent of the ERA: Every constitution in the world written since the year 1950 has a provision among human rights guarantees that men are women are persons of equal citizenship stature. Our Constitution should have explicitly [included] such a provision, just like freedom of speech [and] freedom of the press, a fundamental tenet of our society should be the equal citizenship stature of men and women, and that’s what the ERA would do. Now when I take out the Constitution and show it to my granddaughters, I can’t point to a provision that says explicitly men and women have equal rights and obligations under the law. So I would like to be able to take out my pocket Constitution and show my grandchildren.”
In 2016, Justice Ginsburg quoted a brief written by attorneys at the Women’s Law Project on behalf of 10 Pennsylvania-based abortion providers while upholding reproductive rights in the landmark case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.
“What a thrill to be in the presence of that brilliant, fearless mind,” says Susan Frietsche. “Justice Ginsburg’s life and work call to us to realize her vision of equality and go forward into light.”
Watch the entire discussion here.
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing the rights of women and girls.
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