Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is In The Hospital But Says That Won’t Keep Her From Working

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was hospitalized on Tuesday for treatment for a benign gallbladder condition, CNN reported. A Supreme Court spokesperson said that Ginsburg is “resting comfortably” at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

The Supreme Court convened by phone to hear oral arguments on Monday. Ginsburg felt unwell after oral arguments concluded, so she went to a hospital in Washington D.C. to have some outpatient tests done. According to CNN, the test results “confirmed that she was suffering from a gallstone that had migrated to her cystic duct, blocking it and causing an infection.” Luckily, the treatment did not require surgery.

According to NBC News, although Ginsburg is expected to be in the hospital for a couple of days, the statement released by a spokesperson for the Supreme Court stated that Ginsburg plans to listen to oral arguments by phone from her hospital bed on Wednesday. So, Ginsburg won’t even miss a day of work while recuperating.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case about the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, per CNN.

Ginsburg has struggled with numerous health problems over the past several years. According to Politico, Ginsburg is a longterm cancer survivor. She was first diagnosed with colorectal cancer over two decades ago in 1999. Since that initial diagnosis, Ginsburg has battled cancer — and won — three more times.

In 2009, Ginsburg was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and underwent successful treatment. In 2018, she had surgery to remove malignant tumors found in her lung, and just a year later she had a resurgence of her pancreatic cancer, per Politico.

In January of this year, Ginsburg announced that she was, yet again, cancer-free after undergoing radiation treatment for a malignant tumor found on her pancreas. A statement released by the Supreme Court in January said that the “tumor was treated definitively and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.”

During all those trying times, Ginsburg only missed oral arguments once — when she was recovering from the surgery on her left lung.

According to Politico, Ginsburg’s ongoing health concerns have caused some to worry that she will step down from the Supreme Court to focus on her health. If Ginsburg were to vacate her seat on the highest court in the country, Donald Trump would have the opportunity to make a third appointment to the Supreme Court.

However, according to NBC News, Ginsburg has made it clear that she has no intention to step down, or even, it seems, to miss another day of work.