RBG’s Supreme Court replacement turns heads of some Americans
By: Chloe Williams
Tags: Rbg, Feminism, Supreme Court, Politics, Amy Coney Barrett

Ruth Bader Ginsburg sadly passed away on Sept. 18. Since then her final wishes were for her replacement to be made after the next presidential election, yet her replacement has already been dealt with and made.

Amy Coney Barrett was inaugurated into the Supreme Court in October as RBG’s replacement shortly after her passing. While some were ecstatic that a woman was going to be stepping into RBG’s shoes, others were not as thrilled.

The reason for this wave of disapproval is due to the fact that many of Judge Barrett’s policies can put American women in a state of uncertainty when it comes to some of their rights and needs.

One of Donald Trump’s policies within his presidency was that he would attempt to assign justices to the court that would be willing to overrule Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that deemed abortion to be legal within all states.

While Judge Barrett has not made her thoughts clear on that court case she has done acts in the past that can show that she is leaning towards being someone who would want to take another look at the case and possibly overrule it.

In 2019 she voted to rehear the challenge to Indiana’s parental notification law, which required one or both parental units to be notified when their child is having an abortion.

When that case took place a year earlier, the parental notification law was overturned and young adults trying to have an abortion were given a bit more privacy now that their parents would not be contacted. With Judge Barrett showing interest in rehearing the case, it shows that she is willing to bring the parental notification law back to her state of Indiana.

There is also the time that her and her husband’s signatures were found on an Right to Life ad in Indiana around 2006. All in alphabetical order, clearly the names Jesse and Amy Barrett are written right next to each other.

With this and her consistent avoidance of the question on her opinion of abortion when Senator Feinstein asked it twice, it can be deemed that she is someone who may not be following the path that RBG paved for women in her defense of a woman’s right to choose.

She also made it clear to avoid questions having to do with the LGBTQ community as well another time she was being questioned on her policies.

Another one of Jude Barrett’s past acts that may make women feel uneasy are her past experiences with Title IX.

Title IX is a law that makes it illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of sex in a federally funded activity.

In this specific case where Title IX was relevant, a male Purdue University student who had been found guilty for sexual assault was reinstated by Judge Barrett when the case was brought to her attention and claimed that he had been discriminated against on the basis of his sex.

In doing this, Judge Barrett went on to make it easier for men who have been disciplined for sexual misconduct to claim to be victims rather than an assaulter.

This action that happened under her jurisdiction shows that she may not stand on the side of feminism that many women wish she would, being that she is a woman herself and understands the struggles that come along with being one.

This is a great example of how people can pay attention to elected officials more and be more informed of the changes they can possibly make.

While there is not much currently that the public can do about her election, people can still keep the dream and perseverance of RBG, a woman who devoted her life to the rights of women and the people of America.

With her type of spirit and attitude the people of America who wish to make change and accomplishments can do so.