Topic: CNSNews.com
In the ConWeb, it's just one attack after another on Elena Kagan, and the facts really don't matter. Take today's attack, for instance.
What the ConWeb is howling about now is that back in the 1990s, when she was working in the Clinton administration, Kagan made suggested edits to a statement the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists planned to issue on the subject of the intact dilatation and extraction (D&X) abortion, aka so-called "partial-birth abortion."
CNSNews.com promoted this in a long, long June 29 article by Jane McGrath (whose main job is being an Obama-bashing blogger at Townhall.com). McGrath claimed that the draft ACOG statement "contradicted the argument President Clinton had been making to defend his opposition to a ban on partial-birth abortion." Which it didn't, of course. While the draft statement stated that ACOG "could identify no circumstances under which this procedure, as defined above, would be the only option to save the life or preserve the health of the woman" -- a claim that remained in the final version of the statement -- it went on to state that making intact D&X illegal "may outlaw techniques that are critical to the lives and health of American women." Kagan's edits mainly consisted of making the latter claim more explicit, stating that intact D&X may be the best option for some women.
McGrath goes on to uncritically quote an anti-abortion activist claiming that because of this, Kagan somehow "'deserves the blame' for delaying enactment of the partial-birth abortion ban."
WorldNetDaily anti-abort columnist Jill Stanek seized on the issue, misleadingly claiming that ACOG's draft was "unhelpful" and that Kagan "changed it to suit Clinton's pro-abortion agenda." Stanek went on to howl that "ACOG accepted a revision of its medical opinion from a political hack."
WND liked Stanek's column so much it rewrote it into a "news" article. WND, as per usual, makes no effort to do anything more with it, like obtain opinions from others on the issue.
But don't worry. As this attack crashes and burns, the ConWeb is sure to concoct a new one tomorrow.
