Sullivan Ignites New Outcry by Abortion Foes

Anti-abortion senators threatened Tuesday to oppose President Bush’s nomination of Louis W. Sullivan to head the Health and Human Services Department unless he disavows earlier private statements favoring abortion.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), a staunch abortion foe, warned that the Senate vote on the Sullivan nomination could be “the abortion vote of 1989” if the nominee persists in expressing support for the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision making abortion legal.

Prompted Outcry

Although the controversy is not expected to force Bush to withdraw Sullivan’s nomination, it was the second time in less than a month that statements by the President’s nominee have prompted an outcry from Administration supporters who are opposed to abortion.

Sullivan was summoned to a meeting at the White House with Chief of Staff John H. Sununu Tuesday to discuss the matter but Administration officials expressed confidence that he would weather the latest storm. “We’ve been through this problem before,” said one senior official. “Some people are trying to resurface it.”

The debate over Sullivan’s views was revived when Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) disclosed that the nominee had expressed his personal support for the Supreme Court decision during a recent meeting in the senator’s office. Packwood quoted Sullivan as saying that the ruling “should not be overturned,” as abortion foes have demanded.

Sullivan’s expressed support for Roe vs. Wade puts him at odds with the official position of the Administration as well as the anti-abortion groups that supported President Bush. His comment to Packwood reopened the issue, which Administration officials thought had been put to rest Dec. 22, the day Sullivan was nominated. At that time, Sullivan read a carefully worded statement pledging to support the President’s views.

Packwood said that Sullivan, a political neophyte, was surprised by the attention given to his views on abortion. He added that in their meeting Sullivan also pledged that as a member of Bush’s Cabinet he would support the President’s view and even lobby against abortion, if asked.

Sen. Gordon J. Humphrey (R-N.H.), who like Hatch is an anti-abortion activist, said that Sullivan’s statement to Packwood had succeeded in “reopening” the whole question of whether Bush himself genuinely opposes abortion and the Supreme Court decision. Although Bush once supported Roe vs. Wade, he changed his view before joining the Reagan Administration.

Nevertheless, Humphrey acknowledged that opposition from anti-abortion senators is not likely to deprive Sullivan of the job.

“Let’s put it plainly,” he said. “Dr. Sullivan is the only black nominee to the Cabinet. It would be embarrassing to the President, it would be embarrassing to the Republican Party if that nomination encountered any trouble.”

Humphrey’s statement underscored the dilemma facing many anti-abortion Republicans. On one hand, they owe loyalty to their supporters who oppose abortion. On the other hand, they fear their opposition to the Sullivan nomination would only succeed in tarnishing what was widely viewed as the Administration’s olive branch to black voters.

It was not clear what tactic the anti-abortion foes in the Senate would use to express their opposition. Packwood, a member of the Senate Finance Committee that will review the Sullivan nomination, also expressed confidence that the appointment will be cleared by the Senate--even if some anti-abortion senators decide to filibuster.

At the White House, Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater restated Sullivan’s intention to support Bush’s abortion policy, and he added: “The President has often said that he wants strong people with strong views and that they are free to take those views to the public or to follow them in their recommendations and so forth, but that he assumes that, once decisions have been made, he will be supported.”

Meanwhile, it was learned that Dixon Arnett, an abortion foe and an aide to Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), is one of two persons currently under consideration to serve as Sullivan’s deputy. Abortion foes have been demanding appointments of several officials who agree with them to the department in exchange for their support of Sullivan.

In fact, Packwood said, the President has made “a deal” with the anti-abortion senators that “appointment Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 14 will be pro-life.” Sources said that the anti-abortion foes are unlikely to oppose Sullivan if Bush makes good on the deal.

According to sources, anti-abortion activists also are less likely to oppose Bush as a result of the strong statement he made against Roe vs. Wade Monday when he addressed their rally in downtown Washington.

Hatch said that he still supports Sullivan because he is certain that the nominee will carry out the policies of the President. But other anti-abortion senators said that they will not make up their minds until after hearing Sullivan’s testimony before the Finance Committee.