Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 701.0

524US2

Unit: $U96

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656

BRAGDON v. ABBOTT

Ginsburg, J., concurring

There are not, however, ﬁve Justices who agree that the
judgment should be afﬁrmed. Nor does it appear that there
are ﬁve Justices who favor a remand for further proceedings
consistent with the views expressed in either Justice Ken-
nedy’s opinion for the Court or the opinion of The Chief
Justice. Because I am in agreement with the legal analy-
sis in Justice Kennedy’s opinion, in order to provide a
judgment supported by a majority, I join that opinion even
though I would prefer an outright afﬁrmance. Cf. Screws v.
United States, 325 U. S. 91, 134 (1945) (Rutledge, J., concur-
ring in result).

Justice Ginsburg, concurring.
Human Immunodeﬁciency Virus (HIV) infection, as the de-
scription set out in the Court’s opinion documents, ante, at
635–637, has been regarded as a disease limiting life itself.
See Brief for American Medical Association as Amicus Cu-
riae 20. The disease inevitably pervades life’s choices: edu-
cation, employment, family and ﬁnancial undertakings.
It
affects the need for and, as this case shows, the ability to
obtain health care because of the reaction of others to the
impairment. No rational legislator, it seems to me appar-
ent, would require nondiscrimination once symptoms become
visible but permit discrimination when the disease, though
I am therefore satisﬁed that the
present, is not yet visible.
statutory and regulatory deﬁnitions are well met. HIV in-
fection is “a physical . . . impairment that substantially limits
. major life activities,” or is so perceived, 42 U. S. C.
.
§§ 12102(2)(A), (C), including the afﬂicted individual’s family
relations, employment potential, and ability to care for her-
self, see 45 CFR § 84.3( j)(2)(ii) (1997); 28 CFR § 41.31(b)(2)
(1997).

.

I further agree, in view of the “importance [of the issue]
to health care workers,” ante, at 654–655, that it is wise to
remand, erring, if at all, on the side of caution. By taking
this course, the Court ensures a fully informed determina-