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White House Reassures Abortion-Rights Advocates Of Sotomayor's Views On Roe
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Thursday assured abortion-rights groups that Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor shares President Obama"s views on constitutional protection for a right to privacy and a woman"s right to abortion, the Washington Post reports. Although many abortion-rights groups have welcomed the nomination, some have voiced concern over Sotomayor"s limited judicial record on cases involving abortion rights, especially the right to privacy that forms the basis for Roe v. Wade. Gibbs said that although Obama did not specifically ask Sotomayor about abortion rights during preliminary interviews, the White House is certain she agrees with the president on the constitutionality of Roe. Obama and Sotomayor "talked about the theory of constitutional interpretation, generally, including her views on unenumerated rights in the Constitution and the theory of settled law," Gibbs said, adding that Obama felt "very comfortable with her interpretation of the Constitution being similar to that of his." In a 2007 campaign debate, Obama said he would not nominate "somebody who doesn"t believe in the right to privacy," which the Supreme Court ruled gave women the right to terminate a pregnancy. Obama administration officials also said that they held private conversations on Thursday with groups on both sides of the abortion debate.The Post reports that Sotomayor has not dealt with constitutional issues regarding abortion rights in the nearly two decades she has been a federal judge. Her most notable decision regarding abortion was in 2002 when she ruled that the Bush administration had the right to implement the "global gag rule," which banned federal funding for international family planning groups that offer abortion services and information. Although that decision "reveals nothing about abortion rights," it is based on precedents from the Supreme Court and the Second U.S. Circuit of Appeals, the Post reports. Sotomayor wrote in her decision that the Supreme Court "has made clear that the government is free to favor the antiabortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds." She also ruled that a group of antiabortion-rights protesters could go forward with a lawsuit alleging police brutality; however, that case focused on issues of municipal liability, not the constitutional right to an abortion, according to the Post.Currently, the court is essentially split on the issue of the right to privacy and abortion. Retiring Justice David Souter was one of three authors in a 2002 decision that upheld the basic tenets Roe, and abortion-rights supporters believe that replacing Souter with someone who does not support Roe would threaten those rights, the Post reports. Senior Senate Democrats said that they expect the issue to be brought up during private meetings with Sotomayor next week. However, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a strong supporter of abortion rights, said she will not specifically ask Sotomayor about Roe. She said that she "feel[s] as comfortable as I could possibly feel" about Sotomayor"s support for abortion rights (Barnes/Shear, Washington Post, 5/29). Advocates on both sides of the abortion-rights debate are urging members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to question Sotomayor about her views during her confirmation hearings. Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights said, "I think both sides can agree that the American people should know where its nominees to the Supreme Court stand on important constitutionally decided decisions like Roe v. Wade." Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, said, "We"ve really been focused on asking senators to really probe this question of her judicial philosophy, as to whether or not she"s going to approach a decision like [Roe] as a jurist or as a woman" (Totenberg, "All Things Considered," NPR, 5/28). Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, said his group thinks it is "critical that senators thoroughly explore whether [Sotomayor] b
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AARP Endorses Bill To Crack Down On Medicare Fraud Bipartisan Legislation Will Reduce The Billions Lost To Fraud Each Year
AARP announced its endorsement of the
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AF Aware Cardiology Groups Call For Greater Awareness And Better Education On Atrial Fibrillation
Four leading patient and medical associations announced the formation of AF AWARE (Atrial Fibrillation AWareness And Risk Education), a joint initiative to highlight and address issues that contribute to the growing burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) worldwide.
Diagnostics

CHMP Recommends Expanded Use Of ISENTRESS(R) (raltegravir), From MSD, In Adult Patients With HIV-1 Infection

Merck, Sharp & Dohme (MSD) received a positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommending expanded marketing authorisation for ISENTRESS® (raltegravir) in combination with other antiretroviral (ARV) medicinal products for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in all appropriate adult patients, including patients starting HIV therapy for the first time (treatment-naç¯ve), as well as treatment-experienced patients. The positive opinion will be reviewed by the European Commission, which grants marketing authorisation to the 27 countries that are members of the European Union (EU), as well as Iceland and Norway. Raltegravir, the first and only approved integrase inhibitor, is currently approved in more than 80 countries across six continents for use in combination with other ARV agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-experienced adult patients with evidence of HIV-1 replication despite ongoing ARV therapy. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved an expanded indication for raltegravir in combination with other antiretroviral medicines for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in adult patients that includes patients starting HIV therapy for the first time, as well as treatment-experienced patients. In markets outside the United States, the use of raltegravir in treatment-naive patients is investigational and not currently licensed in this patient group. About Raltegravir Raltegravir works by inhibiting the insertion of HIV-1 DNA into human DNA by the integrase enzyme and has demonstrated rapid antiviral activity. Inhibiting integrase from performing this essential function limits the ability of the virus to replicate and infect new cells. There are drugs in use that inhibit two other enzymes critical to the HIV-1 replication process "protease and reverse transcriptase" but raltegravir is the only drug approved that inhibits the integrase enzyme. Raltegravir is a single 400 mg tablet taken twice daily without regard to food. Raltegravir does not require boosting with ritonavir. Merck & Co., Inc.


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