Women and Politics

The news of Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s retirement has dominated the news, blogosphere, and twitter world this morning. Speculation of who President Obama will choose to replace this liberal-leaning justice, of course, ensued.

But refreshingly, the overwhelming prediction for Obama’s nomination is: a woman. From Our Bodies, Our Blog:

Among the names mentioned were former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan, who Obama named as his solicitor general; Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit; Judge Diane Wood of the 7th Circuit; and Stanford University law professor Kathleen M. Sullivan.

While the general consensus is that Obama’s replacement won’t radically change the ideological makeup of the Court, it does present him with an opportunity to bring some much-needed diversity to the bench. It also gives him a chance to uphold his pro-choice beliefs - that the Constitution supports a woman’s right to privacy, and that Roe v. Wade was rightly decided - by nominating a pro-choice justice.

Obama’s first 100 days included great strides for women being appointed to office as well as protections for our rights and health. The president now has a unique opportunity to keep that momentum going and move toward the goal of achieving gender parity in public office.

The Supreme Court currently sits with one lonely, fabulous woman: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. One out of nine. Women make up over 50% of the U.S. population, yet we only hold 17% of congressional seats, and have one Supreme Court justice.

We can no longer ignore this giant disparity. It’s becoming increasingly more recognized that women’s equal empowerment and leadership is essential to the success and health of a nation. If the United States wishes to continue to move foward and solve the grave challenges before us, we need to make gender leadership equality a priority. It’s my sincere hope that President Obama will lead us into an era where woman have equal power and representation.