Moving Tributes Are Pouring For Ruth Bader Ginsburg, A "Trailblazer" And "Feminist Icon"

"May her memory be a revolution."

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death from pancreatic cancer on Friday sent a jolt of shock and grief through the country, particularly among those who admired the 87-year-old for her extensive contributions to equal rights.

Ginsburg, whose lifelong fight for gender equality that began long before her time on the high court, was a feminist icon who in her later years earned the nickname "Notorious RBG," a moniker she acknowledged and embraced.

Ginsburg had expressed her desire to stay on the Supreme Court until she was 90, but had health issues that landed her in the hospital every few months in recent years, with the court issuing a statement each time she was released announcing that she was in stable health.

Her fame and the precarious ideological tip on the court meant that every hospital visit, routine or not, left liberals doubly anxious over her condition. The final statement from the Supreme Court on Ginsburg's health came on Friday evening.

"Our Nation has lost a jurist of historic stature. 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 tireless and resolute champion of justice," Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. said.

Ginsburg's death triggered a flood of tributes on Twitter remembering her as a pioneering role model for young girls and women.

Justice Ginsburg paved the way for so many women, including me. There will never be another like her. Thank you RBG.

I'm at a complete loss. Before fear sets in... thank you RBG for your life of fighting for our most vulnerable, for championing true equality for all, for your resiliency, and for inspiring countless women and girls to stand up and take charge. https://t.co/yflVuuPAX1

Rest in power to a feminist icon and American hero! Thank you Ruth Bader Ginsburg for your service, for working well BEYOND retirement until the very end because our country needed you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. https://t.co/cQgTwuafVJ

The world lost a giant of jurisprudence today. RBG was an icon to so many women & girls (esp Jewish lawyer girls like me). She blazed trails we didn’t know existed & held on as long as she could. She fought her whole life for civil liberties & American ideals. Rest in power, RBG.

Trailblazing icon of the Supreme Court, RBG, is gone. Her incredible acts of resolve will live forever in my memory. She was a model human, and outstanding role model for women and girls everywhere.

RBG was history. She was a lot of things, not all of which were easily captured by a cute meme, but chief among them: She was a massive, massive part of 20th-century feminist history, still working here and now. It's like the Chrysler building disappearing. She felt permanent.

I'm in tears. RBG has always been my hero. As a woman, & a Jewish woman; as a judge, lawyer, feminist. I'm terrified. I can't even comprehend what this might mean politically. I'm reeling in the grief of losing such an amazing icon. She will be missed, but she will be remembered.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Grace. Steely Resolve. Fierce Intellectual. Feminist. You have left a legacy that few who have walked on this earth can claim. #RBG #SmallandMighty Rest knowing that we will carry on your fight.

Others remembered her through her indelible remarks.

@nprpolitics ”It is essential to a woman's equality with man that she be the decision maker, that her choice be controlling...The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality." #RIPRBG

My all-time favorite quote from RBG, and one that stays with me through all the ups and downs: "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made." RIP.

Justice Ginsburg was 1 of 9 women at Harvard Law in 1956, a pioneer. “My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent. The study of law was unusual for women of my generation” what a legacy. may RBG Rest In Peace

We'll be sharing a few quotes (along with our sister site @lawdotcom) from the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg this evening. #RIPRBG #SCOTUS

My mother (a #SCOTUS clerk under Marshall) wrote this #RuthBaderGinsberg quote in my MD/MPH graduation card. Mom, #RBG I will keep fighting and will do my best to lead 👊🏽#womenshealth #maternalhealth #socialjustice

One particularly memorable quote from Ginsburg made the rounds, a comment she made in 2015 during a discussion about her experience as one of the few women to ever serve on the Supreme Court: "People ask me sometimes, when — when do you think it will it be enough? When will there be enough women on the court? And my answer is when there are nine."

I’m thinking today about Justice Ginsburg’s remark that there will be enough women on the Supreme Court when there are nine. History will remember #RBG as a trailblazer and a voice for liberty and equality.

I have a poster somewhere in my apartment. It says “when there are nine”. It’s what she said when they asked when she would be satisfied with the representation of women on the Supreme Court. When there are nine. We have to fight with everything that is in us.

“When there are nine.” 💔 Rest In Peace, Justice Ginsburg. Thank you for everything.

Others spoke about her remarkable personal life and her role as a mother, which the male-dominated law field considered a disadvantage early in her career.

While many of us see her as one of the last true warriors, to her family she was a mother and a grandmother. Let’s not forget in our angst the mourning of the people who loved her.

As we mourn the loss of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it's worth remembering the ways she inspired us. Every year or so, I reread this essay by RBG, in which she explained how being a working mother made her better at her career. https://t.co/6NAt9oBifI

She is more than a Supreme Court vacancy. Wife, mother, grandmother, pioneer and intellectual giant who serves as a beautiful example of a life of friendships with those with whom she disagreed. God bless her family. Thank you, #RBG.

There were also many who expressed fears about the rising stakes of the 2020 election now that there's a Supreme Court seat to fill and what the outcome could mean for the equality Ginsburg had championed.

I need to apologize in advance. I really want to pause and give RBG her flowers. She deserves so much praise and celebration. But right now I am overwhelmed by the prospect of what comes next. I’m so concerned about women’s rights, civil rights for poc, LGBT rights. I’m worried.

I can’t stop crying. What an enormous loss. She fought so hard and so brilliantly. Rest In Peace, RBG. What will become of us without you?

Rest in peace, RBG. Tonight I'm raising a glass to your legacy and dreaming of the day, "when there are nine." This election was already the most consequential in our lifetime for abortion rights, for immigrant rights, for our democracy. The stakes just got higher.


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