In wake of Roe v Wade repeal, a surprising target for ire: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

As left-wing tempers rage over the Supreme Court's repeal of Roe v. Wade this week, an unlikely villain has emerged in the fracas: the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Long a feminist icon and progressive hero, Ginsburg passed away in September of 2020. Her death, occurring several months before the end of the Trump administration, allowed then-President Donald Trump to place his third and final justice on the Supreme Court, in that case Amy Coney Barrett. 

Barrett's vote on the court is seen as key to the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, leading many commentators to posthumously criticize Ginsburg for refusing to retire during Barack Obama's tenure as president and setting up Barrett's ascendancy to the Court. 

"RBG was a hero for many reasons," Hollywood Reporter columnist Scott Feinberg said on Twitter. "But the terrible irony is that her decision to stay too long at the party helped lead to the destruction of one of the things she cared about the most. Sadly, this will be a big part of her legacy."

"Thanks especially to [Ginsburg] today for making this possible," journalist Eoin Higgins wrote after the ruling. 

 "But at least RBG got to die in office," writer Skylar Baker-Jordan said.

Ginsburg during her tenure on the Court was a staunch defender of abortion rights, though she had at times criticized Roe v. Wade for what she said was the backlash to abortion rights that resulted from it.