Elena Kagan deliberately subverted scientific report to win partial-birth abortion approval

Elena Kagan deliberately subverted a scientific report by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to win partial-birth abortion approval. The Federal Court case involved Nebraska’s ban on partial-birth abortion in 2000. The ACOG put out what was billed as a non-partisan report that played heavily in the Courts decision to strike down the partial-birth abortion ban. The draft report from the ACOG contained the following statement that was very damaging to partial-birth abortion supporters.

"[A] select panel convened by ACOG could identify no circumstances under which [the partial-birth] procedure ... would be the only option to save the life or preserve the health of the woman."

The allegedly non-partisan ACOG shared this draft statement with the Clinton White House and Elena Kagan, then a deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy, freaked out and wrote her superiors this in a memo (pdf):

Todd Stern just discovered that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) is thinking about issuing a statement (attached) that includes the following sentence: "[A] select panel convened by ACOG could identify no circumstances under which [the partial-birth] procedure ... would be the only option to save the life or preserve the health of the woman." This, of course, would be disaster -- not the less so (in fact, the more so) because ACOG continues to oppose the legislation. It is unclear whether ACOG will issue the statement; even if it does not, there is obviously a chance that the draft will become public.

Kagan had a solution. She drafted a suggested revision to the scientific report.

Click image for larger view.


The suggest change reads:

"An intact D&X [the medical term for the procedure], however, may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman."

The supposedly non-partisan ACOG replaced their scientific opinion with Elena Kagan's political opinion verbatim in the final report.

This language was crucial in the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Nebraska's partial-birth abortion ban. Elena Kagan helped dupe the Supreme court with inaccurate and deceptive scientific information. She is unqualified to join that body.