--- title: Read Justice Ginsburg's Statement on Abortion Rights description: Justice Ginsburg wrote her own powerful message on abortion rights for the Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt ruling. canonical: https://time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-27T16:10:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:02:49.360Z og:title: Read Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Powerful Defense of Abortion Rights og:description: As part of the Supreme Court’s pro-abortion rights verdict og:url: https://time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8a852b710521001/6988998bcf40a8ece9c43c70/ruth-bader-ginsburg-abortion-position.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Powerful Defense of Abortion Rights twitter:description: As part of the Supreme Court’s pro-abortion rights verdict twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8a852b710521001/6988998bcf40a8ece9c43c70/ruth-bader-ginsburg-abortion-position.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Powerful Defense of Abortion Rights by [Jessie Van Amburg](https://time.com/author/jessie-van-amburg/) ## Jessie Van Amburg Jun 27, 2016 4:10 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 30: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating her 20th anniversary on the bench, is photographed in the West conference room at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday, August 30, 2013\. (Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 30: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating her 20th anniversary on the bench, is photographed in the West conference room at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday, August 30, 2013\. (Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images)Nikki Kahn—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Jessie Van Amburg](https://time.com/author/jessie-van-amburg/) ## Jessie Van Amburg Jun 27, 2016 4:10 PM UTC On June 27, the [Supreme Court](http://motto.time.com/4378126/abortion-supreme-court/) issued a 5-3 [landmark ruling on abortion rights](http://time.com/4383586/abortion-supreme-court-ruling-texas/), striking down Texas HB2, the controversial law that required abortion providers to adhere to strict health and safety standards. The law forced the closures of many clinics across the state, making it much harder for [women to legally obtain an abortion](http://motto.time.com/4375317/supreme-court-texas-abortion-case/). The Court decided that HB2’s regulations placed an undue burden on women’s rights. [Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ruth-bader-ginsburg-abortion-opinion%5Fus%5F57713624e4b017b379f676f7) filed a concurrent brief to the [majority opinion](http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/15-274%5Fp8k0.pdf). While the majority opinion was dozens of pages long, Ginsburg kept her remarks short and to the point. She recapped the majority opinion, stating that HB2 does nothing to protect women’s health and in fact is based on the myth that abortions are more dangerous than other common medical procedures. “Given those realities, it is beyond rational belief that H. B. 2 could genuinely protect the health of women, and certain that the law ‘would simply make it more difficult for them to obtain abortions,'” Ginsburg wrote. “When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, _faute de mieux_, at great risk to their health and safety.” She concluded her opinion with a powerful declaration in support of [abortion rights](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/27/483686616/supreme-court-strikes-down-abortion-restrictions-in-texas). “So long as this Court adheres to _Roe v. Wade_ and _Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey_, Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers laws like H. B. 2 that ‘do little or nothing for health, but rather strew impediments to abortion,’ cannot survive judicial inspection.” Ginsburg’s simple statement was a reminder of [her commitment to women’s issues](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-12/ruth-bader-ginsburg-isn-t-giving-up-her-fight-for-women-s-rights), and perhaps served as a warning to other states seeking to enact similar legislation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/"},"headline":"Read Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Powerful Defense of Abortion Rights","datePublished":"2016-06-27T16:10:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:02:49.360Z","description":"As part of the Supreme Court’s pro-abortion rights verdict","url":"https://time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/","keywords":["motto","News"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8a852b710521001/6988998bcf40a8ece9c43c70/ruth-bader-ginsburg-abortion-position.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessie Van Amburg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jessie-van-amburg/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta8a852b710521001/6988998bcf40a8ece9c43c70/ruth-bader-ginsburg-abortion-position.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg","caption":"Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg","creditText":"Nikki Kahn—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4383778/ruth-bader-ginsburg-supreme-court-abortion-ruling/","name":"Read Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Powerful Defense of Abortion Rights"}}]}] ```