Pro-Life Group Asks Senate to Postpone Hearings on Pro-Abortion Elena Kagan
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 24, 2010
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A pro-life organization is calling on the Senate to postpone its scheduled hearings on pro-abortion Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. Americans United for Life president Charmaine Yoest is concerned senators won’t have enough time to review her record.
That’s because lawmakers may not receive reams of documents concerning Kagan‘s time in the Clinton administration before the anticipated June 28 hearings.
Kagan has already come under fire for urging Clinton to support a phony late-term abortion ban as political cover for vetoing the ban on partial-birth abortions.
"We are deeply concerned that the Senate Judiciary Committee will have insufficient time to review Elena Kagan’s record before commencing her hearing," Yoest said in her letter.
"Therefore we request that you provide whatever time is needed for members to thoroughly prepare for the hearing, even if it means postponing the hearing date," she added.
The letter, provided to LifeNews.com, is addressed to pro-abortion committee chairman Pat Leahy and Sen. Jeff Sessions, the pro-life ranking Republican on the panel.
Terri Garner, the director of the Clinton library, has said it will be "very difficult" to produce the documents needed to analyze Kagan’s record by the late June hearing date.
Today, Sessions issued comments that are in line with AUL’s request. He said the desire to push forward without the documents could cause a "train wreck."
"We’re heading to what could be a train wreck," he said.
Sessions says Republicans will seek a delay unless senators get access to the tens of thousands of pages on Kagan.
"I don’t believe that this committee can go forward with an adequate hearing" without all records from Kagan’s tenure.
Meanwhile, Yoest went on to say in the letter, "We at Americans United for Life, like most Americans, believe that a nominee’s judicial philosophy goes to the heart of his or her qualifications to serve on the United States Supreme Court."
She added, "Because Solicitor General Kagan has not served as a judge, and consequently there are no judicial decisions to review, it is critical that committee members be given ample time to review the documents she produced while serving in the executive branch, and thoroughly question her about those writings in order to understand the philosophy she would bring to the court."
"Without time to complete this process, members will be unable to adequately perform their Constitutional duty to evaluate her qualifications," the pro-life leader said.
"Americans and their elected representatives deserve to learn more about Kagan’s judicial philosophy before she is given a lifetime appointment to our nation’s highest court," Yoest continued.
Related web sites:
Petition Against Kagan – https://www.iopposekagan.com
Facebook: Stop Kagan
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