There was no legislative restriction against women practicing before the court, she said. It was commonly understood the use of masculine language in the law referred to women as well, and the fact that women had been admitted to the University of Wisconsin law school implied admission to the bar of the Supreme Court. Ryan's denial was so inflammatory that some later said it actually advanced women's causes. The law of nature destines and qualifies the female sex for the bearing and nurture of the children of our race and for the custody of the homes of the world. . . . And all life-long callings of women inconsistent with these sacred duties of their sex, as is the profession of law, are departures from the order of nature, and when voluntary, treason against it.
Discussions are habitually necessary in courts of justice which are unfit for female ears.
Goodell went back to her Janesville practice but, supported by male lawyers from Rock County, fought on. But women would soon lose their strongest legal advocate. Less than a year later Goodell died of cancer. She was 40. All rights reserved.