AIDS Marriage Test Debate Widens : President May Support Proposal but Issue Divides GOP

President Reagan is likely to support a proposal that would require applicants for marriage licenses to take blood tests to determine whether they are carrying the AIDS antibody, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Thursday.

In the first indication of Reagan’s thoughts on the issue, Fitzwater said: “There’s a very real bias in favor of testing for AIDS. . . . I think the President is concerned for the health of the population.”

The proposal has been the subject of growing controversy over civil liberties issues as the Administration and Congress attempt to develop a government strategy toward the AIDS crisis.

Following an emotional debate in the Senate Thursday, a measure to require AIDS testing for marriage applicants and for immigrants seeking legal residency was defeated by nearly a 2-1 margin.

‘No Easy Answers’

“There are no easy answers to AIDS,” said Senate Republican leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), in opposing the measure. “Those who advise easy answers may find themselves in deep, deep difficulty.”

Reagan is not expected to announce his position on such mandatory tests until he receives a recommendation from his Domestic Policy Council, which will review the proposal next week. Administration officials so far have been split on the issue, with the Atlanta-based federal Centers for Disease Control and Surgeon General C. Everett Koop opposing the tests and Vice President George Bush and Education Secretary William J. Bennett favoring them.

Fitzwater said Reagan, although he has not yet reached a decision, was considering AIDS testing for marriage license applicants in the context of the other tests that are required by the government for various purposes.

Would Add to Other Tests

“When we have a number of contagious diseases where there is mandatory testing, such as syphilis, tuberculosis and a number of other diseases where mandatory testing is required for immigration purposes or marriage licenses or so forth, there’s a very real bias in favor of testing for AIDS under those circumstances as well. . . . It’s one that he would probably look favorably upon at this time.”

Fitzwater initially indicated that Reagan was also leaning toward favoring mandatory AIDS testing for immigration applicants as well, but he later said he had not heard Reagan express his view on that subject.

Presidential support for marriage license AIDS tests would probably lead to a government recommendation to states that they impose such a requirement voluntarily. States regulate the issuance of marriage licenses.

If Congress chose to adopt legislation to screen for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, it could be in the form of a prohibition on federal grants for any states that did not comply.

Helms Introduces Measure

The Senate measure on testing was introduced by conservative Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) as an amendment to a catch-all emergency spending bill.

“Too little is being done” to stop the spread of the disease, said Helms. “Common sense dictates that (marriage) licenses be denied to those suffering from AIDS,” he added.

But Dole said AIDS tests are still too unreliable and carry too much danger of misinterpretation to be forced on people.

“Will jobs be lost, careers destroyed, families disrupted all for a false positive result?” he asked.

At one point in the debate, Sen. John C. Danforth (R-Mo.), pounding his fist repeatedly on his desk, objected to being asked to decide on such a sensitive issue without the opportunity for more study.

‘This Is Really Panic’

“This is panic, this is really panic,” declared the ordained Episcopal minister, who is normally one of the Senate’s more reserved members. “This is no way to decide matters of life and death.”

The measure was defeated 63 to 32, in a vote that reflected nearly unanimous opposition by Democratic members and a deep split among Republicans.

The spending bill, on which the Senate expects to complete work next week, includes $30 million to help subsidize the cost of treating some AIDS patients with the new AZT drug.

Although the White House Domestic Policy Council has not yet issued a recommendation on AIDS testing, Gary L. Bauer, assistant to the President for policy development and a key adviser, said he plans to support such a requirement for marriage license applicants, new immigrants and prison inmates.

“The thing that’s moved me is, this is the prudent thing we would do and did do in other epidemics,” he said.

Poll Favors Test

According to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted in April, 82% of the population thinks people should be tested for the AIDS virus before they can get a marriage license.

Vice President Bush, on a visit to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., said last month that he favored such tests, but a positive finding should not block issuance of a license.