Pro-Life Works: Dawn Johnsen Withdraws

April 12, 2010

Pro-Abortion Advocate Dawn Johnsen Withdraws Nomination

Eric Brown

Membership Services Associate

Dawn Johnsen announced this past Friday (April 9, 2010) her decision to withdraw her nomination for the White House Office of Legal Council as Assistant Attorney General citing a year of delay in Senate confirmation due to opposition from Republican Senators as her primary reason.  Johnsen is an attorney and constitutional law professor, previously employed by both the American Civil Liberties Union and NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Johnsen in the late 1980s worked on a controversial lawsuit (U.S. Catholic Conference v. Abortion Rights Mobilization) that sought to strip the Catholic Church of its tax-exempt status because of its Pro-Life advocacy.  Following this major legal case, she worked for the Office of Legal Counsel during the Clinton Administration. 

In 1993, President Clinton signed five executive orders lifting abortion restrictions and Johnsen was the author of each of them.

The most abominable accomplishment on Johnsen’s resume is her role as a key architect in drafting the infamous FOCA legislation.  This comes as no surprise given Johnsen’s radical views having once said that Pro-Life laws “reduce women to fetal containers” and are tantamount (because of “forced pregnancy”) to slavery.

Pro-Life advocates can be thankful that a nominee with such extreme pro-abortion views will not working in the U.S. Justice Department.

Detailed information is provided on Today's News and Views.