Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized today after a fall at her office Wednesday night. The NY Times reports that she went home after the fall but later decided the pain was not going away and so this morning she headed to the hospital:
Justice Ginsburg, 85, went home after her fall, but experienced discomfort over the night. She was admitted to George Washington University Hospital, where doctors found three broken ribs on her left side, Kathy Arberg, a Supreme Court spokeswoman, said in a statement.
The next sitting of the Supreme Court begins on Nov. 26, and Justice Ginsburg’s history suggests the injuries are not likely to keep her away. She broke two ribs in 2012, without missing work. And she returned to work quickly after undergoing a heart procedure in 2012. She is also a cancer survivor and returned to work less than three weeks after having surgery.
CNN says the heart surgery took place in 2014, but the point is that she’s had health issues before and always bounced back pretty quickly:
In November 2014, she underwent a heart procedure to have a stent placed in her right coronary artery, and in 2009, she was treated for early stages of pancreatic cancer.
In 1999, just six years after being sworn in as an associate justice, Ginsburg successfully underwent surgery to treat colon cancer.
But the real heart problems today are the ones that progressives are having reading about Ginsburg in the hospital.
https://twitter.com/Toure/status/1060545366276349959
With the GOP still in control of the Senate for the next two years, Ginsburg will have to hold out until early 2021 to have even a chance of a moderate or liberal replacement. And of course that’s assuming Democrats can retake the Senate and the White House in 2020 which is far from a given. Given the stakes, some on the left are offering her spare body parts:
Ruth Bader Ginsberg can have my ribs. And my kidneys and a lung. And anything else she needs. She can even have my husband on Thursdays.
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) November 8, 2018
I hereby donate all of my ribs and organs to Ruth Bader Ginsburg
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) November 8, 2018
Lots of people are also suggesting bubble wrap in their reactions to the news:
Nooooo, who took the bubble wrap off of Justice Ginsburg?! https://t.co/NNtIPn7lFw
— Atima Omara (@atima_omara) November 8, 2018
Why is there not a team of spotters walking within an arm's length of Ruth Bader Ginsburg at all times? And why is she not wearing an outfit made of bullet-proof bubble wrap from dawn till dusk? Let's stay focused on what's really important, people.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) November 8, 2018
But everyone on both side of the aisle seems to be wishing her the best and, for the record, I hope she recovers quickly. Here’s a Fox News report which suggests she’ll have a few tough weeks ahead as there’s really not much you can do to immobilize broken ribs as you wait for them to heal:
LISTEN: @BillHemmer spoke with @DrMarcSiegel about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fracturing 3 ribs in fall #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/wV6f8IREhf
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) November 8, 2018
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