Dr. Foster Should Be Confirmed

Dr. Henry W. Foster Jr. is the right physician at the right time for the job of U.S. surgeon general. He is an experienced obstetrician who also has run a program to discourage teen-age pregnancy. His strengths must not get lost in a partisan debate over abortion. The Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee is expected to vote today on his nomination. The committee should send it to the Senate for full consideration.

The next surgeon general must use the job’s bully pulpit to tackle spiraling illegitimacy, the AIDS epidemic, out-of-control violence and other public health crises that threaten American life.

Dr. Foster fits this bill. Because of his broad experience as a physician in poor communities, he knows the consequences of inadequate health care. He knows the hard toll that diseases take of impoverished men, women and children who wouldn’t have had to die if they had gotten to a doctor earlier or otherwise received proper care.

During nearly four decades as an obstetrician, Foster has delivered thousands of babies and saved many lives. He knows about the social damage caused by single motherhood complicated by poverty. His program combats teen-age pregnancy and promote sexual abstinence. His good works should not be ignored because he has performed legal abortions, as have most obstetrician-gynecologists.

The Senate also should consider his outstanding work as a medical educator. He has been acting president of Meharry Medical College, a historically black university that has educated generations of physicians.

Just as no senator should be judged on a single issue, Dr. Foster should not be judged solely on the issue of abortion. He has the skills and personal qualities for the job. The Senate should put this divisive controversy to rest and confirm him.