Ruth Bader Ginsburg Is Cancer-Free and Back on the Supreme Court

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg has had her share of health problems over the last few years, including two nodules in her lung which she had surgery a year ago to remove, a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in August and a suspected flu diagnosis in November that put her in the hospital for a day.

Honestly, it’s sad, but this happens when you’re 86. Sometimes the body just… breaks down.

ruth bader ginsburg speaking into a mic at a hearing
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But there’s some great news! Speaking to CNN this week, Ruth Bader Ginsburg said not to worry, because she’s officially cancer-free.

Ginsburg Gets a Clean Bill of Health

When speaking to CNN, the interviewer said that the supreme court justice sounded “energized” and was “speaking animatedly” when she talked about her health. It’s good to see for those who are worried about her leaving her seat anytime soon.

She said that she underwent a three-week course of radiation to treat the tumor found on her pancreas. In her words, the “tumor was treated definitively and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.” She says that no further treatment will be needed.

This is great news, because the Supreme Court is going to be ruling on a lot of major cases this year, including abortion rights, President Donald Trump’s financial and tax records, the Affordable Care Act, and more. Having Ginsburg 100% and onboard is going to make everything go smoother.

Many Didn’t Expect Her to Make It

In her interview, Ginsburg admitted that there were many people that didn’t expect the 86-year-old justice to make it through the treatment. After her surgery and dance with lung cancer, the White House started prepping for her potential passing.

“There was a senator,” she said to NPR in July. “I think it was after my pancreatic cancer, who announced with great glee that I was going to be dead within six months. That senator, whose name I have forgotten, is now himself dead, and I am very much alive.”

Ginsburg seems to have no plans on retiring (almost no one retires from the Supreme Court, after all) or passing anytime soon, so we’ll be seeing a lot more of her name in major rulings.

If Ginsburg had passed last year, Donald Trump would have been able to nominate and appoint a third justice to the court.