Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, met yesterday with Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of Americans United for Life (AUL) to discuss evidence of Supreme Court Elena Kagan's central role in defeating a ban on partial-birth abortion.
Yoest delivered to Sessions the AUL's extensive ethics report covering Kagan’s activist role in defeating the ban on partial-birth abortion while working in the Clinton White House.
“Partial-birth abortion is a gruesome procedure. People strongly oppose it. AUL’s report provides a valuable perspective on the debate, its importance, the timeline of events, and the key role Ms. Kagan appears to have played in the outcome of the fight,” Sessions said of the report.
“President Clinton seems to have been disposed to sign the ban, and Ms. Kagan seems to have persuaded him to reverse that position,” Sessions continued. “In her testimony, Ms. Kagan clearly presented herself as a neutral staffer in the process, though this record suggests she was an active player in working to keep partial-birth abortion legal.”
The report takes a comprehensive look at the efforts to ban partial-birth abortion in which AUL played an active role.
“Americans United for Life is a respected independent organization with a long history of protecting the rights of the unborn. During the latter part of the 1990s, AUL was active in promoting federal legislation that would have banned partial-birth abortions. The debate over the legislation—in which Ms. Kagan played a major role—was intense, and the vote was much contested,” Sessions said. “I look forward to studying the facts carefully in an effort to fairly evaluate this contradiction.”
The AUL report delivered to Sen. Sessions can be downloaded in its entirety here.
