Ruth Bader Ginsburg Death Leads To Debate About New SCOTUS Nominee

News of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death has shocked the collective population of the United States and ignited serious debate over whether her spot should be filled before or after the upcoming Presidential election.

Shortly after news of Ginsburg’s death following complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer, the debate over naming a replacement for her on the court quickly took off, especially after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that any nominee put forth by President Trump would get a vote on the Senate Floor—before the upcoming November election, where the President is facing off against Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

Since then, debate has ensued over whether the nomination of a new justice should take place prior to the election, with McConnell’s own words from 2016, when then-President Obama tried to name a new justice following Antonin Scalia’s death, coming back to haunt him.

In a statement dueling with McConnell’s, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quoted McConnell back to himself, saying that the American People deserved the right to pick the new nominee—which they could be helping do by either voting for the President for another term, or by voting in Biden, either of which who would pick the new nominee after inauguration in January.

Similarly, President Obama also released a statement on her death where he criticized Republican attempts to keep his nominee, Merrick Garland, from getting a confirmation hearing. The attempt was successful and after President Trump was sworn in, his pick, Neil Gorsuch, was sworn in.

The concerns also stem from what another Conservative justice could mean for landmark decisions that have constantly been at risk of being overturned—such as Roe v. Wade, which gave women the right to choose when it came to terminating pregnancies, as well as President Trump’s shortlist of nominees, which was released just one week prior to Ginsburg’s death. Among the nominees are known Conservative Republicans, including Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, both of whom signed off on a call to have the drug Mifeprex classified as dangerous. Cruz, in particular, faced backlash for the action, after stating pregnancy wasn’t a “life-threatening illness” when discussing the act.