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DETROIT, March 25, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Abortionist Timothy R. B. Johnson, in response to a March 12th court order to comply with a U.S. Department of Justice subpoena, claims that he has no files to send. He says there are no medical files containing any relevant information of use to the DOJ.

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn in Detroit ordered the University of Michigan hospital to make the records available to Johnson, after an earlier refusal by the U-M. The U-M argued that the privacy of patients was their primary concern, despite assurances from the DOJ that any identifying information on the files was not needed.  “We allowed Dr. Johnson to perform a search for any patient records meeting the criteria set out in the order, and he found none,” Kara Gavin, U-M health system spokeswoman told the Ann Arbor News. “Until Dr. Johnson was given leave by the court, he was not sure if he had supervised any cases. He has now done a diligent search and has determined that he neither performed nor supervised any of the type of cases the government asked about.”  The DOJ seeks to substantiate the claim by abortionists that partial-birth abortions are necessary for the health of some expectant mothers. The DOJ is defending the ban introduced by President Bush last November that states, in part, that “partial-birth abortion is a gruesome and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary.”  The suit, launched by Planned Parenthood abortionists, argues that denying partial-birth abortion to women is unconstitutional. Johnson is chair of U-M’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and one of seven abortionists who launched the suit.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:  “Michigan Judge Orders Abortion Records Release to Justice Dept.” at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/04031506.html   “Activist Judge Bars US Justice Department Access to Medical Files” at:  https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/04030901.html   “US Department of Justice Thwarted in Bid to Secure Women’s Records in Partial Birth Abortion Ban Defence” at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/feb/04022707.html