Ruth Bader Ginsburg becomes first woman

to lie in state: 8 other strides she made

for women
As Ginsburg becomes first woman to lie in state, here are 8
other strides she made for women.
Sara M MoniuszkoMaria PuenteVeronica BravoUSA TODAY
Published 3:28 AM GMT+10 Sep. 25, 2020 Updated 12:18 AM GMT+10 Sep. 26, 2020

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Three of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's most lasting legacies in the fight for equality
Ruth Bader Ginsburg worked to advance equal rights for women long before she was on the
Supreme Court. Here are three of her most lasting legacies.
USA TODAY

Even in death, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is making history for women.

The Supreme Court associate justice, a driving force for gender equality in the United States
who died last week at age 87, will be the first woman to lie in state Friday in the the U.S.
Capitol. Thirty-four men have been so honored since 1852.

The honor comes after Ginsburg lay in repose at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday and
Thursday, a final visit to the high court she served for 27 years. 

During those decades, Ginsburg helped act as a voice for women – and men – in countless
ways, from education to workplace discrimination and health care. 
She famously co-founded the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU as a lawyer, and brought
and argued the cases that led the high court to affirm protections against gender
discrimination.

Though it would be impossible to list every triumph that Ginsburg helped achieve, we're

looking back to trace some of the impact she's had on women's lives in America.

Here are just some of the contributions  she made for women, both on a legal and personal
level.

1. Before  Ginsburg, state-funded schools didn't have to

admit women
In the 1996 United States v. Virginia case, Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion that it is
unconstitutional for schools funded by taxpayer dollars to bar women. 

“There is no reason to believe that the admission of women capable of all the activities
required of (Virginia Military Institute) cadets would destroy the institute rather than enhance
its capacity to serve the ‘more perfect union,’ ” Ginsburg wrote.

Speaking to USA TODAY, women's rights attorney Gloria Allred described Ginsburg's
opinion in the case as "groundbreaking."

"She was clear that state-sponsored educational institutions could not exclude women on
account of their gender,” Allred explained.

2. Women couldn't sign a mortgage or have a bank

account without a male co-signer
Ginsburg paved the way for the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which passed in 1974
and allowed women to apply for credit cards and mortgages without a male co-signer.

Naomi Mezey, law professor and co-founder of the Gender+ Justice Initiative at Georgetown
University, told USA TODAY that Ginsburg's work surrounding women's financial
independence laid a base for further issues of equality and independence. 

Athia Hardt, a former Arizona Republic reporter and current consultant with Hardt and
Associates, told USA TODAY about her personal experience with a bank telling her she
could no longer have her account in her name after she married, but instead needed to be
under "Mrs. Charles Case."

"I said, 'I'm not taking his name,' and they said, 'That doesn't matter,' " she recalled, saying
she felt "both frustrated and angry at the system."

In a post to her Facebook page following Ginsburg's death, Hardt shared her story and

encouraged other women to do the same as a way to "honor RBG with our memories of
something we encountered before she changed the world."
Gloria Feldt, author and former president of Planned Parenthood, was another woman to
share her experience on the Facebook post.

"I had been employed full time for several years and was earning more than my ex. I went to
buy a car and couldn’t get a loan without my husband’s signature," she wrote. "That was my
tipping point to feminist activism."

3. Ginsburg helped women make strides toward equal pay

In 2007, Ginsburg famously dissented from the Supreme Court’s decision on the pay
discrimination case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

"When she was in the minority, she was a powerful voice in dissent in ways that changed the
game,” said Emily Martin, general counsel at the National Women’s Law Center in
Washington. “For example, when five justices ruled against Lilly Ledbetter in her pay
discrimination case, Justice Ginsburg's call to action inspired the public and Congress to
change the law and strengthen equal pay protections.”

4. Her presence on the court preserved a woman's right to

choose
She was a crucial vote on the current court to keep Roe v. Wade. Even though she had doubts
about the way the monumental case was decided, she was in no doubt about women's right to
choose.

Randall Kessler, a family law and trial lawyer in Atlanta, says Ginsburg was an indispensable
brick in the legal wall that has protected Roe v. Wade since the 1970s, and not just on the
Supreme Court.

“Now she’s gone, it means pro-choice proponents are scared to death of the unknown,”
Kessler says. “They believe (her death and replacement) will empower state legislatures to
pass new laws or reintroduce those laws already struck down by the Supreme Court.”

5. She pushed to protect pregnant women in the workplace

In 1972, Ginsburg argued that excluding a pregnant woman from the Air Force, like in the
case of Struck v. Secretary of Defense, is sex discrimination.

"It was standard 50 years ago for women to be fired from their jobs when they were
pregnant," Mezey explained. "(Ginsburg) herself hid her pregnancy while she was teaching at
a law school in order not to be told that she couldn't teach."

But as a litigator and on the Supreme Court, Martin explained, Ginsburg changed "what was
possible for women in the U.S.”

Mezey added that Ginsburg was able to identify and help address stereotypes, both positive
and negative, that "nonetheless end up creating self-fulfilling prophecies of unequal
distribution of work."
"In her life –  including as a daughter, a woman, a lawyer and a mother herself– she actually
saw so much of what turned out to be profoundly unjust and unequal," Mezey said.

6. Ginsburg argued women should serve on juries

During the 1979 case Duren v. Missouri, jury duty was optional for women in several states
because it was viewed to be a burden for women whose role was seen as the "center of home
and family life." Ginsburg, who represented Billy Duren in the case, argued that women
should serve on juries on the basis that they are valued the same as men.

In a 2009 interview with USA TODAY, Ginsburg upheld this notion, saying, "Women
belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn't be that women are the
exception.”

7. She was a key vote in granting same-sex marriages

The 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges, which allowed queer women and the rest of
the LGBTQ community the right to same-sex marriages in all 50 states, ended in a 5-4 ruling.
Without Ginsburg, the outcome may have been different.

Imani Rupert-Gordon, the executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, told
USA TODAY that Ginsburg's impact on queer women spans far beyond just the issue of gay
marriage.

"She really was responsible for helping us expand the concept of gender discrimination," she
said. "It's those same types of principles that led to the intellectual foundation that would
extend discrimination protections to other considerations like gender identity and sexual
orientation, which is important in general but especially important to LGBTQ people."

Mezey added that in Ginsburg's gender advocacy, she "opened up space for protection of
people on the basis of gender identity."

More: Supreme Court grants federal job protections to gay, lesbian, transgender workers

8. Ginsburg made it cool to be a confident, hard-working

female leader
Though Ginsburg left her mark on the legal world, she also had a lasting influence on women
on an individual level by being an example of a powerful woman in her writing, speaking and
work as a judge.

And Ginsburg's impact on empowerment didn't stop with her generation or the next – she's
continued to energize young women. Her rise as a pop culture icon has inspired books,
movies and even Halloween costumes for young girls. 
A child in a Supergirl costume pays respects as Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in
repose in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 23.ALEX
BRANDON/POOL

“That grief is about her, about people’s connection to her,” said Louise Melling, deputy legal
director of the ACLU who heads its newly renamed Ruth Bader Ginsburg Center for Liberty.
“I’m thinking about what an icon she became in the last 20 years – I own an RBG bracelet
because someone sent it to me! I can’t think of any other justice who became a pop culture
icon in that particular way.”

Hardt says Ginsburg's legacy has also taught others to "continue to do the hard work."

"She really kept going on the good fight for her whole life," she said. "She really is a
heroine.”

In an interview with USA TODAY in 2013, Ginsburg exemplified this ideal, insisting she
would continue working even as others pressured her to step down as the oldest justice on the
court.

“As long as I can do the job full-steam, I would like to stay here,” she said. “I have to take it
year by year at my age, and who knows what could happen next year? Right now, I know I’m
OK.”

Contributing:  Richard Wolf;  photo illustrations by Veronica Bravo

More: 'I Dissent': Six books to read about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

'RBG': How Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a legit pop-culture icon

View |45 Photos
Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at US Supreme Court

Her casket will be at the US Supreme Court on Wednesday and Thursday. She will lay in state at the US Capitol
starting Friday.
Published 3:28 AM GMT+10 Sep. 25, 2020 Updated 12:18 AM GMT+10 Sep.
26, 2020