Our sister organization, American Principles in Action, has been active in opposing the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Here at APP, we have been actively discussing her problematic legal and personal philosophy for some time now.

Yesterday, after close of business - and while everyone was distracted by the news of Justice Stevens' impending retirement - it was made public that Dawn Johnsen has formally withdrawn her nomination:

President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has withdrawn her bid for confirmation, after several Republicans objected to her criticism of the Bush administration's terrorist interrogation policies.

Dawn Johnsen's withdrawal - a setback for the Obama administration - was announced late Friday by the White House on a day the capital's legal and political elites were absorbed in the news that Justice John Paul Stevens would retire from the Supreme Court.

Obama had nominated Johnsen not once, but twice to this post.

The AP report above framed the opposition to her nomination purely in terms of her "sharp criticisms of terrorist interrogation policies under President George W. Bush" and makes no mention of her extreme views on abortion, which was one of the motivating reasons that our sister organization APIA opposed her nomination so energetically.

As I've quoted before, this was an individual who called pregnant women "fetal containers" and compared 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.

With such incendiary rhetoric as this, it comes as no surprise that her objectivity and fitness for high legal office counsel was called into serious question by many groups.

Johnsen's defeat represents a true victory for American principles, and for the conviction that the law should not become a vehicle for pushing a hateful and partisan agenda.

After Democrats decided to postpone the nomination of Dawn Johnsen - fearing they did not have the needed votes to pass her through her Senate confirmation - they are now contemplating making her a recess appointment, as Politico reports.

President Obama had this to say:

“I respect the Senate’s role to advise and consent, but for months, qualified, non- controversial nominees for critical positions in government, often positions related to our national security, have been held up despite having overwhelming support,” Obama said.

“If the Senate does not act …, I will consider making several recess appointments during the upcoming recess because we can't afford to let politics stand in the way of a well functioning government,” Obama said.

Ken Blackwell and Ken Klukowski of BigGovernment.com have an extensive post on the reasons there are to oppose Johnsen's nomination.

Readers who want to let their Senators know what they think about her nomination can contact them through this APIA action link, and then join this Facebook page to help spread the word far and wide.

An update from LifeNews:

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote Thursday on the re-nomination of pro-abortion attorney Dawn Johnsen to hold a key Justice Department position.

A law professor at Indiana University and former NARAL attorney, President Barack Obama tapped Johnsen to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

... 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.

It appears Johnsen's nomination is in a race against time, with Senator-elect Scott Brown demanding to be sworn-in the same day.

Because time is of the essence, please visit our action page at American Principles in Action and join our related Facebook page.

Here at APP we've written before about Dawn Johnsen, President Obama's appointee to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.

As I cited back at the time:

"Her nomination has been delayed by Republicans who oppose her because she is strongly pro-abortion -- going as far as saying pregnant women are subjected to a form of slavery -- and because of other political reasons."

Even with the recent election of Scott Brown to the Senate, Dawn Johnsen's nomination could come down to a single vote because at least one Republican has pledged to support her.

American Principles in Action, our sister c4 organization, has a new letter for concerned citizens to sign and send to their senators:

I am writing to ask you to oppose the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.  From her radical pro-abortion political stance to her offensive characterizations of pro-lifers, Ms. Johnsen has demonstrated that she is not fit to hold this position.

A former attorney for NARAL, Ms. Johnsen's abortion advocacy puts her on the most extreme fringe of pro-abortion partisans.  She has compared pregnancy with slavery, even writing to liken the Thirteenth Amendment protections against involuntary servitude with denying an abortion.  Her hostility towards pregnancy has caused her to describe women as, "fetal containers," and pregnant ones as, "losers in the contraceptive lottery."  More than just a political sentiment, her pro-abortion bias even reflects itself in intolerance towards those who disagree with her, as she has offensively compared pro-lifers with the Ku Klux Klan.

Despite her attempts to distance herself from her statements on abortion, it is clear that both her legal career and philosophy have been profoundly influenced by her extremist position.  Such bias has no place in an office that speaks for the People on the nation's most difficult legal questions.  Respect for life and respect for those who speak in defense of it are a minimal thing to ask from one who aspires to such an influential public position.  I beg you to please demonstrate your own regard for these principles by voting against Ms. Johnsen's nomination and encouraging your colleagues in the Senate to do likewise.

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