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ACLU slammed as misogynistic after it removes 'woman' from Ruth Bader Ginsburg quote

It replaced 'woman' with person, 'her' with their, and 'she' with they and people in the famous quote

Before the Senate confirmed then-President Bill Clinton’s nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court in 1993, she told senators during her four days of questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee: “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When Government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.”

Ginsburg's legacy as a feminist icon and a social justice advocate is known to the world. And the aforementioned quote is a historical one - something that immortalized her as a pro-choice voice. On the first anniversary of Ginsburg's death, the American Civil Liberties Union shared the quote, albeit with some modifications. 

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“With Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, we lost a champion for abortion and gender equality. And on the anniversary of her death, the fight to protect abortion access is more urgent than ever,” the ACLU wrote on Twitter, sharing the iconic Ginsburg quote. It replaced “woman” with person, “her” with their, and “she” with they and people. The modifications were highlighted by the organization by adding straight brackets around the words. The ACLU went on to speak about abortion laws across the US, specifically mentioning Texas and Arkansas’ seemingly unconstitutional news ban on abortions.

But more than the topic of choice and abortions itself, it seemed more people took offense to the modifications to Ginsburg's quote. “The ACLU fixed RBG's quote because it referenced women,” wrote journalist Jesse Singal, whose 2018 cover story for The Atlantic -- profiling transgender adolescents -- was heavily criticized as transphobic. 

He was far from alone in drawing a conclusion like this. One person tweeted, “ACLU altering RBG’s quote to remove references to women. That’s a fun precedent!” Another tweet said, “The @ACLU literally edited women out of one of RBG's own quotes, on the one-year anniversary of her death. She was the very reason the ACLU has a Women's Rights Project. Its misogyny is breathtaking.” One person wrote, “RBG is one of the most admired WOMEN in the history of American politics... and you erased the word ‘woman’ from her own quote... You guys are literally trash.”

But is it misogyny?

Days after Ginsburg’s death last year, Louise Melling, the deputy legal director and director of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Center for Liberty wrote for the ACLU. Referencing the same quote, Melling wrote: “Justice Ginsburg wrote about women and women’s equality as she spoke about abortion. (At the time, there was not yet a broader awareness of the importance of abortion for transgender men and nonbinary people). She recognized that when legislatures spoke of banning or restricting abortion, women were their target. Restrictions on abortion were part of the forever effort and set of laws restricting women that Justice Ginsburg could not abide.”

In 2019, Vermont-based queer, nonbinary writer and advocate Amber Leventry wrote that transgender men and nonbinary folks “can and do get pregnant. When talking about reproduction, reproductive rights, and gynecological health, transgender folks deserve the same inclusive and affirming care as cisgender folks. That starts with language.” Leventry added, “A safe environment for transgender and nonbinary folks comes back to language and having allies who will not only use gender-neutral terms but who will also include all genders in conversations about reproductive health and rights.”

Leventry’s argument, one echoed by many nonbinary and trans people, is not misogynistic. It is one that tries to aim for more inclusion. Ginsburg’s quote was not desecrated by the ACLU, in that regard. Women were not erased. Rather, the problem of the lack of bodily autonomy was highlighted -- one that is faced as much by nonbinary folks and trans men who were assigned female gender at birth based on their reproductive organs.