Obama Admin Won’t Withdraw Nomination of Pro-Abortion Dawn Johnsen
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 12, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The Obama administration has no plans to withdraw the nomination of pro-abortion activist attorney Dawn Johnsen, who would head the Office of Legal Counsel if approved by the Senate. However, the chances of her confirmation are sketchy because of her pro-abortion activism.
White House attorney Gregory Craig on Friday indicated the Obama administration is standing behind the embattled nominee.
"I know of no plans to withdraw any nominees," President Obama’s top in-house lawyer says, though he did not elaborate.
Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters that Johnsen’s nomination has been pending for "far too long," but he said he is confident she will be confirmed.
“I expect that Dawn Johnsen will be confirmed. Her nomination has been pending, from my own parochial interest, for far too long. I’d like to have her here…with me and running the Office of Legal Counsel,” he said.
Any battle to approve Johnsen’s nomination could take place in the coming weeks as the Senate has confirmed pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, although the protracted health care debate could hold it up further.
Johnsen, a former NARAL attorney, would serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Legal Counsel in the Obama administration.
She is a professor at the Indiana University School of Law, but she is also a longtime abortion advocate and worked for one of the leading abortion advocacy groups.
The pro-abortion activist has come under fire for calling women "fetal containers" and comparing pregnancy with slavery. She has also come under fire for labeling pregnant women "losers in the contraceptive lottery" and comparing pro-lifers to the Klu Klux Klan.
She returned to Indiana University in August to teach a class because of the delay in her nomination.
Johnsen was the Legal Director for NARAL from 1988-1993.
After that, she served in the Clinton administration as the Acting Assistant Attorney General heading the Office of Legal Counsel from 1997-1998 and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General from 1993-1996. She also served on the Clinton transition team in 1992.
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Johnsen in February, where she received a party-line 11-7 vote in favor of moving her nomination to the full Senate.
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