A Fine Doctor for the Nation : Joycelyn Elders may be very outspoken, but her prescriptions are sensible and wise

It’s now clear that the political enemies of Dr. Joycelyn Elders, President Clinton’s nominee for surgeon general, have run short of solid reasons to oppose her. Not that they didn’t try hard. But in the end none of their objections held up, so they were left with only ideological arguments: They just don’t agree with Elders’ philosophies.

That, in fact, is fair politics. But the near-hysterical tone of the political opposition to her is odd, considering that Elders’ views about preventive health care, sex education and AIDS are right in line with another respected doctor hardly known for radicalism--former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop. Koop supports Elders, as does the American Medical Assn., also not exactly revolutionary.

What peculiar, radical ideas has Elders promoted? How about her idea that “the best way to stop abortion is to stop an unplanned pregnancy”? Or how about the rabble-rousing idea that “Iwant to change the way we think about health, by putting prevention first”?

Now there’s no question that Elders was controversial in Arkansas, where she was state health director from 1987 until she resigned last week. The plain-speaking Elders, 59, raised hackles with her support of abortion rights and her advocacy of school-based health educational programs for teen-agers that include the availability of condoms and other contraceptives. And she has confirmed she made the often-quoted remark that “we’ve taught (youngsters) what to do in the front seat of the car, but not what to do in the back seat.”

“I believe in abstinence,” she explained last week at the opening of her Senate confirmation hearing. “What I was really trying to say is if you can’t be abstinent, I want you to be responsible. I’m about preventing unplanned pregnancies.”

Elders’ strong commitment to disease prevention merited her a special award three years ago from the AMA, which cited her for promoting programs in Arkansas that resulted in “greater immunization rates in preschool children, expanded services for pregnant women, increased AIDS testing and counseling, and improved access to health care providers in rural and underserved areas.”

Sounds like a fine national agenda for America’s top doctor, doesn’t it?