No Death-by-Committee : Foster nomination must not be denied a vote of the full Senate

After months of attacks from abortion opponents, Dr. Henry Foster is finally getting the chance he deserves to answer his critics before the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. His nomination to the post of U.S. surgeon general should not die there.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole questions the obstetrician’s candor and may refuse to bring the nomination to a floor vote; Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) threatens a filibuster if the nomination goes to the floor. Could presidential ambitions be clouding their judgment? Abortion has again become a political litmus test in the battle for the White House. The Foster nomination must not be reduced to a referendum on abortion.

Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.), the committee chair, eloquently made that point. She said of Dr. Foster: “He has been made a pawn in our abortion debate. . . . He has a right to be judged on his whole record.” Absolutely. The vote of Kassebaum, who is known as independent and fair-minded, is essential to keeping Foster’s nomination alive. She may be joined by two moderate Republicans on the committee, James M. Jeffords of Vermont and Bill Frist, the only physician in the Senate and, like the nominee, a Tennessean. With some other Republicans pandering to the anti-abortion lobby, their support will take courage.

Unfortunately, the good doctor’s credentials and credibility have been examined in purely political terms ever since he initially misreported the number of abortions he had performed, procedures that were legal. The Senate must instead concentrate on the thousands of babies the Nashville physician has delivered, the care he has provided to poor women and his fight against teen-age pregnancy in a program honored by President George Bush. These are the valuable experiences that qualify Henry Foster to be surgeon general, and to use that post to serve the nation.