WASHINGTON — He says he opposes abortion “except in cases of rape, incest and the preservation of the life of the mother.” He is against taxpayer funding of abortion. And now, he's the new Senate majority leader, replacing Sen. Trent Lott.

He's Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Frist, and pro-lifers wonder how much support they should give him.

As majority leader, Frist will set the Senate's floor schedule and will be responsible for building coalitions to get legislation through the closely divided chamber—51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and one Democratic-leaning Independent.

In response to questions about Frist's positions on life issues, his spokesman Nick Smith provided a rote statement from the senator that is pro-life but stops short of endorsing a human life amendment to the Constitution or even advocating the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Some people in his home state have claimed in the past that Frist has said he does not favor the latter.

“As a physician, my professional ethics are grounded in preserving life, and I am opposed to abortion except in cases of rape, incest and the preservation of the life of the mother,” said Frist, a heart surgeon, in the statement. “Furthermore, I oppose taxpayer funding of abortions. Those of us who oppose abortion care deeply about women and their health care. We know that too many women face a heart-wrenching dilemma involving this issue. We must persuade our friends and neighbors on the grass-roots level that abortion is not the way to resolve this dilemma.”

The U.S. bishops, in their Nov. 12, statement for the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, make the intention of the Church and the pro-life movement clear: “For, as Pope John Paul II reminds us, ‘it is impossible to further the common good without acknowledging and defending the right to life, upon which all the other inalienable rights of individuals are founded and from which they develop’ (The Gospel of Life, No. 101). Roe v. Wade must be reversed.”

According to a column by Terence Jeffrey in the Dec. 23 issue of Human Events, a national weekly magazine, when Frist created a blind trust to take over his major stockholdings in 2000, he had more than $5 million invested in Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), a hospital chain founded by his family. The problem: The Catholic Financial Services Corp. runs an S & P 500 index fund that excludes six companies for being involved in abortion, and HCA is one of the six.

According to Jeffrey, Frist's trust agreement allows him to order the trust to divest from a particular company and directs the trust administrators to inform him if they divest entirely from any stock. Frist and his spokesmen have not publicly revealed if any such action has been taken.

In any case, Smith said, Frist's possible investment in HCA and his position on abortion have nothing to do with each other.

“These two issues are separate and distinct,” he said.

Ken Connor, president of the Family Research Council, noted that, Frist's stock interest notwithstanding, his record on abortion is good, with one exception: his position on stem cell research.

“His position on embryonic stem cell research is problematic for us,” Connor said. “He was one of the architects of the president's decision. His position was more expansive than the president's.”

Frist ended up endorsing President Bush's compromise decision to provide federal funding for previously existing stem cell lines— cells that could be produced without destroying more human embryos but which had resulted from destruction of embryos in the past.

“He's going to get his first real test on the ban on human cloning,” Connor said.

After the Raelian cult claimed it had produced a human clone, Frist said in a Dec. 27 statement, “These actions offend our human sensibilities and undermine fundamental respect for the decency of human life. Today's announcement reinforced the need for Congress to continue its efforts to enact a ban on human cloning.”

Frist supports a total, permanent ban on human cloning, one that applies to cloning for any purpose.

“Sen. Frist supported the Brownback-Landrieu bill banning human cloning [and] the partial-birth abortion ban but not preventing embryonic stem cell research, which was a concern,” said Erik Hotmire, spokesman for Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who along with Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., is one of the most active pro-lifers in the Senate. “But overall, Sen. Brownback is supportive of Sen.

Frist and in fact voted for him for majority leader.”

What Pro-Lifers Want

Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, which was founded in response to Roe v. Wade and is now one of the nation's largest pro-life groups, said Frist has an excellent “pro-life voting record.” He said he expected Frist to continue to be reliably pro-life. “He has been so far, so I expect he will continue to be,” he said.

“All I know is that he's untried,” said Sandy Rios, president of Concerned Women for America, a pro-family public policy organization. “He's also hesitant about restricting abortion.…But he is a man willing to learn. I'm optimistic.”

If pro-life Republican leaders do not deliver on legislation during the next two years, she said, “politically, I think it will be very damning. They have a window here. There would be no more excuses.”

Connor said there would be consequences if Frist failed to deliver on the pro-life issue.

“If he has any aspirations for higher office,” he said, “it would be devastating. The core of the base of the Republican primary voters are pro-life and he could not survive a contested primary.”

Pointing in particular to last year's races in Minnesota, Missouri and Georgia, Connor said, “I think pro-life voters elected pro-life senators expecting results.”

Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, an organization dedicated to respecting and protecting human life, was less optimistic about Frist.

“I don't think his prospects for being a pro-life leader are good,” she said. “[For example], he has argued for allowing the importation from foreign countries of cloning products [therapies derived from human cloning]. He invested in HCA.”

“In general he has a strong pro-life voting record,” wrote Catholic bishops' conference spokeswoman Cathy Cleaver in response to e-mailed questions. “He has taken a position in favor of limited funding for embryonic stem cell research, so on this he disagrees with the bishops, who oppose embryonic stem cell research; but he supports a total ban on human cloning.”

“We don't know much,” said Paul Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative think tank that focuses on the “culture war,” of Frist. “We don't have a clear record of where he stands.”

If Frist and other pro-life politicians fail to deliver, Weyrich said, “I think the consequences would be enormous. The pro-lifers came out full-tilt in 2002, as they did in 1994. I think there would be great bitterness and President Bush's re-election would be in jeopardy.…There is no excuse now.”

Joseph A. D'Agostino writes from Washington, D.C.