US supreme court judge and feminist icon, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has died from cancer, the US supreme court announced.
Ginsburg, 87, was an architect of the legal fight for women’s rights in the 1970s, Ginsburg subsequently served 27 years on the nation’s highest court, becoming its most prominent member.
Diagnosed with cancer four times, Ginsburg had had numerous health scares, including several recent hospitalizations. Her death will open a pivotal seat on the court less than 50 days before the election.
Her death will inevitably set in motion what promises to be a nasty and tumultuous political battle over who will succeed her, and it thrusts the Supreme Court vacancy into the spotlight of the presidential campaign.
Ginsburg had overcome serious health problems before: In February 2009, when she was 75, she had surgery to remove a small tumor in her pancreas. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, spreading quickly and seldom detected early, and like many other patients, she had no symptoms. In her case, the tumor was discovered early enough to remove. In summer 2019, Ginsburg again had a brush with cancer in her pancreas, receiving radiation therapy for a malignant tumor.
Despite her diminutive stature, Ginsburg was larger than life, both on and off the bench. Viewed as a feminist icon, she broke countless barriers, never shying away from making controversial comments along the way — with everything from her high court opinions to her octogenarian workout routines earning her the nickname the “Notorious R.B.G.” by her rabid fan base.
