The Supreme Court confirmed on Thursday that 85-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the justice who was the subject of a popular 2018 documentary that young women flocked to in droves, has been hospitalized after falling in her office on Wednesday evening. Ever the tough lady she is, Ginsburg didn’t admit herself to the George Washington University Hospital until Thursday morning after experiencing discomfort overnight, where she learned that she had actually fractured three of her ribs.
While she remains in the hospital for treatment, Ginsburg will not be present for the official Supreme Court ceremony to welcome Brett Kavanaugh after having been confirmed last month. President Donald Trump and his brand new acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker will also be in attendance. As the Associated Press points out, this is not the first time Ginsburg has suffered broken ribs, among other ailments:
Ginsburg has had a series of health problems. She broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. She also was hospitalized after a bad reaction to medicine in 2009.
In other words, this isn’t Ginsburg’s first rodeo, and it sounds like she has a decent shot at bouncing back. Be that as it may, people are flipping the f*ck out at the news, to put it gently — many urging her to wrap herself with something protective until 2020, given that abortion rights are at risk with the new balance of the Supreme Court.
[throwing a robe over Kate McKinnon and hastening her onto the bench] folks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is fine
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) November 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1060544632164093952
https://twitter.com/OhNoSheTwitnt/status/1060555276858875906
For the good of the nation Ruth Bader Ginsburg must wear one of those inflatable sumo wrestler suits for the next 2 years https://t.co/NI4kwMExTH
— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) November 8, 2018
It's like $83 at Wal-Mart.
I'll personally pay for it.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
This is your new home. pic.twitter.com/oZdSn7HALo— Jarrett Bellini (@JarrettBellini) November 8, 2018
holy fucking shit can we just wrap Ruth Bader Ginsburg in bubble wrap and carry her around in a sedan chair for the next two or more years because she is currently our country's most precious natural resource
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) November 8, 2018
Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to be 99% adamantium by 2020.
— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) November 8, 2018
Others are coming forward to actually offer to donate their ribs to Ginsburg:
I hereby donate all of my ribs and organs to Ruth Bader Ginsburg
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) November 8, 2018
If Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs any of my bones or internal organs I don't need mine
— Leslie Grossman (@MissLeslieG) November 8, 2018
If Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs ribs I have like dozens of them that I'm not using, let's do this
— Anna Merlan (@annamerlan) November 8, 2018
For what it’s worth, Ginsburgh apparently has no plans of stepping down, and has even hired clerks for the term that extends into 2020. Having said that, we wish her a speedy recovery.