<Recent media reports have indicated that Elena Kagan, when she worked under President Bill Clinton (D), urged him to support the partial-birth abortion ban, a supposedly “pro-life” amendment. To the contrary, the actual amendment was a fake, meant only to swindle Congress and the public into weakening a ban on partial-birth abortion.
It was all just a political stunt. In a 1997 memo, Kagan and her boss, Bruce Reed, advised President Clinton to support then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle’s (D-South Dakota) compromise to the Partial Birth Abortion Ban for political reasons. The ban on partial-birth abortion was strongly supported by Congress and the public, and Clinton risked having his veto overridden, a move that would hurt him politically.
Kagan and Reed could not have been clearer:
“We recommend that you endorse the Daschle amendment in order to sustain your credibility on H.R. 1122 and prevent Congress from overriding your veto,” they wrote.
Presented as a “compromise,” Daschle’s ban on aborting viable babies had a loophole so large than it wouldn’t ban anything. In fact, the title of a Washington Times article said just that: “Daschle Bill May Not Ban Anything.”
Just like Obama’s health care bill, Daschle’s amendment was kept secret, but the Washington Times was able to get a copy. It found that the bill would allow abortionists to decide whether or not they broke the law. The abortionist would decide if the baby was viable and if the pregnancy would harm the woman.
Way to put the weasel in charge of watching the hen house Mr. Daschle! Late-term abortions cost quite a hefty fee — at least $2,000 at some clinics. Abortionists aren’t to going give up a profit for the life of the baby.
Infamous late-term abortionist Warren Hern told the Washington Times, “I will certify that any pregnancy is a threat to a woman’s life and could cause ‘grievous injury’ to her ‘physical health.’”
Even if the baby was viable and the mother was healthy, under the Daschle amendment, the abortionist could commit a partial-birth abortion and face no criminal penalty. He could possibly be fined or have his license suspended. However, he would not risk the kind of criminal penalty that would come from doing the same thing to a fully born human being — or animal.
Thankfully, the Daschle amendment was defeated. And in 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a true ban on partial-birth abortion.
Another example of Kagan giving bad — and unsuccessful — political and legal advice.