June 11, 2010

NEWS SHORTS FOR FRIDAY

Dawn Johnsen's Failed Self-Reinvention

     President Obama's former nominee to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel Dawn Johnsen
    
Dawn Johnsen

In an op-ed in today's Washington Post ("Restoring Leadership and Integrity to the Office of Legal Counsel"), President Obama's former nominee to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel Dawn Johnsen writes that "There is no simple answer to why my nomination failed."  However, she argues that her "torture memo" regarding the Bush Administration's position on handling terrorists was essential to the collapse of her attempted appointment.

Perhaps her view of the way to treat combatant prisoners was a source of consternation to conservatives.  But there is another reason why ultimately she withdrew her nomination: Ms. Johnsen is a pro-abortion zealot, and a sufficient number of pro-life Senators found her views outside the mainstream that she finally gave up her more than 14 month effort to achieve Senate confirmation.
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Homosexual Group, Planned Parenthood & Judges Keep Personhood Amendment Off Nevada Ballot
     Personhood USA Logo
A Christian-based group's anti-abortion petition will not appear on the November ballot. A national leader of the Personhood movement said Thursday it will not collect the required number of signatures needed by Tuesday's deadline. The proposed constitutional amendment would halt abortions in Nevada. PersonhoodUSA co-founder Keith Mason said the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and Planned Parenthood through litigation have "run out the clock on us" and prevented the organization from collecting the required 97,002 signatures to put the issue before voters. The state Supreme Court still has not ruled on Personhood Nevada's appeal of a lower court decision that prevented the group from circulating its petition.
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Involuntary euthanasia found widespread in Belgium

     Involuntary Euthanasia

A new report on legal euthanasia in Belgium has found that a significant number of "terminations with request or consent." Although the country's law requires the patient to give informed consent for euthanasia, a number of nurses admitted to researchers that they had ended the lives of patients who had not asked for an earlier death. About 2% of the deaths in Belgium are classified as euthanasia; it is not clear how many of those deaths are involuntary.
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Careless, negligent abortionist's license sought

     Gynecare Center Website

An abortionist at the Gynecare Center in Maryland is under state scrutiny for the death of one of his patients.

Because of his connection with the death of a 21-year-old woman in 2006, an initial proceeding has been held by the Maryland Board of Physicians (MBP) in a quest to revoke the medical license of abortionist Romeo Ferrer.
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Alabama abortion mill closes; 2nd "emergency" appeal issued to keep last standing Mississippi mill open

     Beacon's Women Center Logo

Operation Rescue is reporting this afternoon that Beacon's Women Center in Montgomery, AL, has closed.

An AL Dept. of Public Health source informed OR that Beacon, one of Summit Medical Center's chain of 7 mills, decided to shutter its doors rather than face a revocation hearing after being placed on probation in 2007 for numerous violations.
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FDA Takes Issue with Genetic Tests from 5 Firms


     Genetic Testing
     Genetic Testing

The Food and Drug Administration has put five genetic test makers on notice that they must get federal approval before marketing their products for use by consumers.
 
The regulatory letters posted online Friday are the first sign that the government agency plans to crack down on companies marketing products that claim to predict inheritable diseases using DNA samples.
 
The FDA letters notify each company that their products are considered medical devices and therefore must be federally approved as safe and effective.
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