Two recent news stories offer “tea leaves” that suggest Elena Kagan may not be a mainstream liberal on at least two issues related to religion. First, the New York Times reports that in 1997 she advised President Clinton to sign legislation banning late-term abortions. While you could say that she made that argument on pragmatic grounds, pragmatism appears to be a significant part of her approach to issues. Second, in her Solicitor General confirmation hearings, she retracted the opposition to funding for faith-based social services organizations found in a memorandum she wrote as a clerk for Justice Marshall in Bowen v. Kendrick. At her hearing, she described her memo as “the dumbest thing I ever read.” Just tea leaves.
Reading the Kagan Tea Leaves: Maybe She’s Not a Mainstream Liberal on a Few Religious Issues
by russellpearce
Those are actually 2 issues that aren’t that bad. Late-term abortions are more dangerous anyway, and I would rather make that into the issue than have the issue be abortions in general. It’s less about the woman’s right to choose and more about the severity of the health risks involved. Even if it takes a woman a month to find out that she’s pregnant, 2 months is plenty of time to schedule an abortion. While I would prefer that it all be allowed, this is an issue on which I would compromise, and I wouldn’t even go so far as to claim that it is a religious issue…
As for the topic of faith-based initiatives, I have to say that they fill a tremendous void in our country. While it would be great for the government to provide such services itself, it cannot for a few reasons (1) faith-based organizations adapt to local communities, (2) religion is a powerful motivating factor in recruiting volunteers, making FBOs cheaper to operate (3) one can start an FBO in a much shorter time than one can create a government program. While I’m all for regulation, it seems that if there’s a significant problem at hand, it’s better to let a religious group address it immediately than to wait until the government is able to establish such a program itself. Also, the government can still have some discretion on HOW much religion factors into the program, although this is harder to enforce.