November 5, 1981
Dear Senator Hayakawa:
I have been traveling for the past 13 days speaking or representing the Public Health Service, hence, the delay in answering your letter of October 23.
I don't know what I can do to reassure you that I am a man of my word and that I have enough integrity to mean what I say. I have taken the position that I will not let my personal beliefs be used improperly in the performance of my job as Surgeon General.
There has been no situation in the eight months that I have been Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, where the Surgeon General plays any role in abortion decision-making. Insofar as amniocentesis is concerned, I do support it and particularly its outgrowth, fetoscopy, which I think represents one of the most exciting advances in the treatment of fetal disease. Having spent my life in the correction of anomalies of the newborn, I can see all sorts of possibilities with fetoscopy and I support its continued use as a research endeavor.
When I appeared before the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, I said that I believed in family planning, that I would support reproductive research and the search for new male and female contraceptives. I consider contraceptive research to be one of the great needs of this country and would like to see increased funding for such an endeavor.
I trust these straightforward brief answers are satisfactory. I would be more than pleased to sit down and discuss these matters with you at any time.
Sincerely yours,
C. Everett Koop, M. D.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health