--- title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Abortion: Country Is at Peak Conservatism description: Country will become more progressive "when we have a more functioning Congress," Supreme Court Justice tells Elle canonical: https://time.com/3425099/justice-ginsburg-abortion/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-24T12:54:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:23.630Z og:title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Abortion: Country Is at Peak Conservatism og:description: Country will become more progressive "when we have a more functioning Congress," Supreme Court Justice tells Elle og:url: https://time.com/3425099/justice-ginsburg-abortion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18a46f6c182e011a/6986a50b35ba6f1bc1c03fdb/485357613.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2008 og:image:height: 1130 og:image:alt: Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Ginsburg Discuss First Amendment At Forum og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Abortion: Country Is at Peak Conservatism twitter:description: Country will become more progressive "when we have a more functioning Congress," Supreme Court Justice tells Elle twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18a46f6c182e011a/6986a50b35ba6f1bc1c03fdb/485357613.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Justice Ginsburg: U.S. 'About as Conservative As It Will Get' on Abortion > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=e48bc8d7-627d-4c91-8726-f25ec376171f&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Explains: The Weakening Pro-Choice Movement [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: The Weakening Pro-Choice Movement](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/A5ANOwlX.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2013-01-03. Abortion-rights activists won an epic victory in Roe v. Wade. Kate Pickert explains why they've been losing ever since_  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 24, 2014 12:54 PM UTC  Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg waits for the beginning of the taping of "The Kalb Report" April 17, 2014 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg waits for the beginning of the taping of "The Kalb Report" April 17, 2014 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Sep 24, 2014 12:54 PM UTC Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg [told _Elle_](http://www.elle.com/life-love/society-career/supreme-court-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg) in an interview published Tuesday that she believes the country has reached peak conservatism on the issue of abortion rights. Asked whether the country would swing rightwards on a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy, the left-leaning 81-year-old replied, “No, I think it’s gotten about as conservative as it will get.” She added that she thinks the pendulum will swing in a more progressive direction in her lifetime, “when we have a more functioning Congress.” Ginsburg said that Justice Anthony Kennedy has been the key reason for a perceived lack of progress by the pro-choice movement in the abortion debate: “To be frank, it’s one person who made the difference: Justice Kennedy. He was a member of the triumvirate used to \[reaffirm\] _Roe v. Wade_ in the Casey case, but since then, his decisions have been on upholding restrictions on access to abortion.” The Supreme Court Justice also told _Elle_ that the court’s [Hobby Lobby](http://time.com/2941323/supreme-court-contraception-ruling-hobby-lobby/) decision, which affirmed a company’s right to withhold insurance coverage for types of birth control that conflict with an employer’s religious beliefs, will be a black mark on its record. “I think 50 years from now, people will not be able to understand Hobby Lobby,” she said. Ginsburg wrote the [dissenting opinion](http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354%5Folp1.pdf) on the decision. She argued that one of the reasons the pro-choice movement has not been as active as she would like is that many young privileged women who might otherwise be protesting do have access to abortion clinics. “The impact of all these restrictions is on poor women, because women who have means, if their state doesn’t provide access, another state does. I think that the country will wake up and see that it can never go back to \[abortions just\] for women who can afford to travel to a neighboring state…It makes no sense as a national policy to promote birth only among poor people.” Ginsburg, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, was believed likely to retire during President Obama’s second term in office. But she poured scorn on people who thought she would step down so that Obama could replace her with a justice who shared her political beliefs. “Anybody who thinks that if I step down, Obama could appoint someone like me, they’re misguided,” she said, adding that she would sit on the court for “as long as I can do the job full steam.” “I think I’ll recognize when the time comes that I can’t any longer,” she said. “But now I can.” \[[_Elle_](http://www.elle.com/life-love/society-career/supreme-court-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg)\] ## Transcript This January is the 40th anniversary of Roe V Wade, which was the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America. It might surprise some people to know that in the 40 years since that decision, the pro choice movement has lost a lot of ground. Here is what you need to know. [ MUSIC ] It might seem as though the re- election of Barack Obama and a lot of Democrats back to the Senate might indicate that the pro- choice movement is actually on a winning trajectory right now. But actually abortion policy in America is primarily governed at the state level and this is where pro- life advocates have been really successful. They've pushed for passage of a lot of state laws that limit access to abortion through waiting periods, parental notification laws, ultrasound laws, and also specialized zoning rules that abortion clinics have to follow. [ MUSIC ] Another problem that the pro- choice movement has is that it's in the midst of a generational fight. A lot of the women that run the feminist and pro choice legacy organizations in America are baby boomers who were around when Roe V Wade was decided. And right now, there are a lot of millennial activists in their twenties and some in their thirties that are fighting for power of these organizations and it's created tension within the movement. Probably the most daunting challenge that the pro- choice movement faces is that public opinion about abortion has shifted over the last 40 years. While about three quarters of Americans believe abortion should be legal in some or all circumstances, people have a more nuanced view of abortion itself. This has a lot to do with the widespread use of prenatal ultrasound as well as neonatology, which has made huge advances in saving the lives of babies born prematurely. And this has changed the way Americans feel about unfettered access to abortion. Americans generally believe that abortions should be legal. But that it should be limited and regulated. The pro- choice movement hasn't really done a good job of adapting to this shifting public opinion and that's left it kind of stranded in the past. 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