Justice Department Nominee Johnsen Questioned On Abortion Stance During Confirmation Hearing

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 27 Feb 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday questioned Department of Justice nominee Dawn Johnsen -- President Obama's pick to head the Office of Legal Counsel -- about her work representing an abortion-rights group 20 years ago, the New York Times reports. Johnsen, now an Indiana University law professor, represented NARAL Pro-Choice America two decades ago and filed a brief on behalf of the group before the Supreme Court. According to the Times, Specter "suggested that she had asserted that pregnancy was comparable to slavery and that abortion rights should be protected by the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery."

In response, Johnsen clarified that the language he was referring to was made in a footnote and that she never "believed the 13th Amendment had any role" in abortion rights. The footnote stated that forcing a woman to continue a pregnancy when she desired otherwise was "disturbingly suggestive of involuntary servitude."

The Times reports that Johnsen has been "sharply criticized by some conservatives" over her past comments in support of abortion rights and against former President George W. Bush's interrogation and detention polices. Although she "was expected to be given a rough ride by the Judiciary Committee's Republicans, ... their appetite for combat seemed stilled" at Wednesday's hearing, a fact that reflects "[n]ewly changed political realities," according to the Times (Lewis, New York Times, 2/26).

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