Abortion Wars

Marc reports that Dawn Johnsen's confirmation is in question because of her time as a former counsel to NARAL:

...the White House wants to see her confirmed, but they are not going to expend more than a certain amount of energy to see her through.  Senior officials discussed Johnsen's nomination on a conference call yesterday evening. The opposition to Johnsen, an outspoken opponent of torture and the politicalization of the Justice Department, was at first denoted by references to her legal views. There were hints that the White House somehow was using the OLC memos as a cudgel to force Republicans to confirm Johnsen. That turned out not to be true. Johnsen may be the last Democratic victim of the abortion wars.

The most prolific and passionate opponent of the nomination of Harold Koh, is Ed Whelan.