Scientists Won’t Face ‘Litmus Test’ on Abortion, Sullivan Says

Candidates for top scientific jobs in the federal government will not have to pass an ideological test on abortion and other political issues, Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan said Sunday, first in a Washington speech and later in an interview with the New York Times.

Sullivan, in the interview published today in the Times, said the so-called “litmus test,” which had become a subject of concern among prominent medical leaders after at least two candidates for scientific jobs were asked their views on abortion, would not be used to gauge applicants for jobs in his department.

Sullivan first made his comments in a speech to the Assn. of American Medical Colleges on Sunday in Washington, saying that the decision was intended to end the controversy over such political tests and “to clear the air and not have a cloud hanging over these positions.”

But in the interview later with the paper, he said such a litmus test was necessary at the level of assistant secretary of health and that it was appropriate for President Bush to fill such positions with people who share his views on issues such as abortion and medical research using fetal tissue available because of abortions.

Below that level, including jobs such as the directorship of the National Institutes of Health and the directorship of the Centers for Disease Control, scientific and management credentials should be the deciding concerns, he said.

Sullivan said he met with other Administration officials last week to express his concerns about the politicization of scientific jobs in the department. He told the newspaper that high-level White House officials agreed no ideological tests were necessary for top scientific jobs.