Republicans Seek Dr. Foster’s Withdrawal : Nomination: Several conservative senators say surgeon general nominee’s credibility has been damaged by his ballooning abortion estimates.

Several conservative Republican senators Thursday called on President Clinton to withdraw the nomination of Dr. Henry W. Foster Jr. as surgeon general, saying that concerns have broadened to encompass doubts about Foster’s credibility because the number of abortions he says he performed keeps increasing.

One GOP senator, Phil Gramm of Texas, said he is “vigorously opposed” to Foster’s nomination and vowed to “do everything I can” to defeat it. He said that Foster has become “too divisive” a figure to serve as surgeon general.

Complaints about Foster’s credibility represent a shift in the line of attack by his opponents. Instead of emphasizing his record as a physician who performed abortions, critics are now asking why the number he says he conducted keeps rising.

The new strategy gives his opponents a less risky way to fight the nomination. By citing questions about the number of procedures he performed, Republicans can avoid attacking him directly for participating in abortions.

As Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) put it: “There is a litmus test here. And it’s not abortion. The litmus test is the truth.”

Foster indicated to an Administration aide originally that he had participated in just one abortion. Last Friday, he said he thought that he had performed fewer than a dozen. Thursday night, in a nationally televised interview, he said that further review found he was the physician of record in 39 abortions over 38 years. Some critics have alleged that Foster may have performed hundreds of the procedures.

Foster has said that the earlier reports of lower abortion estimates stemmed from simple misunderstandings and his own failure to realize that he should not rely on his memory.

His supporters have praised his extensive record as an expert in teen-age pregnancy prevention and argued that his involvement in abortions, regardless of the number, is irrelevant because they were legal procedures.

Republican demands for a quick end to the nomination came as Clinton and some of his Democratic allies in the Senate reiterated their support for the Tennessee obstetrician-gynecologist. But even some Senate Democrats seemed to be hedging their bets while demanding that Foster at least be allowed a confirmation hearing.

Such a hearing, however, is some time away and as Coats said: “What they’re looking at is a very controversial two months. I think the President can ill afford that.”

Coats was one of three Republican senators to call for Foster’s withdrawal--and the first member of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee to do so. That panel will preside at hearings on the appointment in mid- or late March, after the FBI has finished a routine background check. The others are Don Nickles of Oklahoma and Richard G. Lugar of Indiana.

President Clinton also offered support, but he seemed to leave open the possibility that public knowledge of Foster’s past could yet change as Administration aides continue to dig into his record.

“I do not believe that anything I have heard about him (Foster) disqualifies him from serving as surgeon general,” Clinton said in response to a question during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

“I support him. . . . I believe the Senate will support him, and I think we should not back away from this,” Clinton said. He accused the opposition of portraying Foster “in cardboard cutout terms.”

Despite the GOP calls for Foster’s withdrawal and Gramm’s vow to wage an all-out fight if the nomination goes to the Senate floor, many other Republican senators said that they were withholding judgment while acknowledging that they are troubled by the doubts surrounding Foster’s career.

“We’ve got a system of confirmation here that I think we ought to abide by,” said Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.). “But the nomination is in trouble. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

Times staff writers Paul Richter and Melissa Healy contributed to this story.