THE ROSE DINNER
JANUARY 23, 1984
WASHINGTON, DL

C, EVERETT KOOP, MJ,
   SURGEON GENERAL
U,S, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE


APPRAISAL OF LIFE ISSUES - 1934

WE CELEBRATE RELUCTANTLY ON THIS OCCASION A DAY, WHICH LIKE

PEARL HARBOR, WILL LIVE IN INFAMY AS LONG AS THE HISTORY OF THIS

COUNTRY IS RECORDED,  IT IS APPROPRIATE TO THINK OF JANUARY 22 IN
THE TERMS WHICH FRANKLIN D, ROOSEVELT SPOKE OF PEARL HARBOR,

BECAUSE ALREADY THE NUMBER OF UNBORN DEPRIVED OF LIFE EXCEEDS BY

TEN TIMES THE NUMBER OF MEN KILLED IN ALL THE WARS IN WHICH THIS

COUNTRY HAS FOUGHT,

UNDERSTANDABLY MANY OF YOU ARE NOT ONLY APPALLED BY THOSE

FIGURES BUT ARE DISMAYED AT THE LACK OF PROGRESS TOWARD A

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, OR A HUMAN LIFE BILL, OR BY THE FAILURE
OF THE SUPREME COURT IN THE SPRING OF 1983 TO PULL BACK FROM ITS

HARD NOSE POSITION ON ABORTION,  WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY THEY HAD

WITH THOSE SEVERAL CASES WHICH CAME BEFORE THEM AT THAT TIME,
THEY SAID IN ROWE V, WADE:  "WE DON'T KNOW WHEN LIFE BEGINS," IN

DANFORTH, THEY SAID:  "ON THE BASIS OF PRESENT SCIENTIFIC

KNOWLEDGE WE DON'T KNOW WHEN LIFE BEGINS," BUT LAST SPRING THEY

COULD HAVE SAID:  "WE NOW KNOW WHEN LIFE BEGINS BECAUSE WE HAVE

THE EVIDENCE OF THE SO CALLED TEST TUBE BABIES, - WHOSE

CONCEPTION TOOK PLACE IN A PETRI DISH AND WHOSE FUTURE

NECESSITIES REQUIRED ONLY IMPLANTATION AND NOURISHMENT IN THE
MATERNAL WOMB TO BECOME A NEWBORN LIVING CHILD,"

   FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WISH PROGRESS COULD BE MEASURED IN MORE

GLOWING TERMS LET ME POINT TO SOME ACHIEVEMENTS WHICH HAVE. COME


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ABOUT THROUGH THE DILIGENT EFFORT OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU OUT THERE,

OTHERS BY FORCES WE MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE INFLUENCED, AND OTHERS
WHERE WE #JUST LUCKED OUT" AS THE SAYING GOES,  1 SAY LUCKED OUT

WITH TONGUE IN CHEEK BECAUSE MY UNSHAKABLE FAITH IN THE
SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD LEADS ME TO BELIEVE THAT OUR EFFORT, WHICH IS
A RIGHTEOUS EFFORT, WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED ACCORDING TO GOD'S

TIMETABLE AND NOT OURS,

o THE NAME HYDE FOR THOSE OF us WHO KNOW THE MAN WHO BEARS

THAT NAME CONJURES UP A STALWART OF THE PRO LIFE MOVEMENT
BUT FOR EVERYONE IT BRINGS TO MIND THE HYDE AMENDMENT AND

ALL OF ITS SEQUELE WHICH HAVE DONE SO MUCH TO BATTLE ON

THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ABORTION ISSUE,

o WE HAVE A DISTINCTLY PRO LIFE PRESIDENT IN RONALD REAGAN,

o WE HAVE ONE HOUSE OF CONGRESS WHICH IS PRO LIFE,

o AT THE START OF THIS ADMINISTRATION WE HAD A PRO LIFE
SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES IN THE FORM OF
RICHARD D, SCHWEIKER WHO STOOD WITH YOU ON THIS

ANNIVERSARY AGAINST ABORTION ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS AND WHO

TOOK SOME COURAGEOUS STANDS ON SEX EDUCATION, PARENTAL

NOTIFICATION, AND FAMILY LIFE,

o WE HAD A NEAR MISS ON THE HUMAN LIFE BILL,


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o WE SAW THE APPOINTMENT.o F A NEW SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES WHO LOST HER SEAT IN CONGRESS LARGELY
BECAUSE SHE WAS OPPOSED TO ABORTION AND A SECRETARY THAT I

CAN ASSURE YOU IS ADAMANTLY PRO LIFE IN EVERY NUANCE OF

THAT TERM, - THE HONORABLE MARGARET M, HECKLER,

,o You HAVE SEEN THE FADING OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE JOSEPH
FLETCHERS OF THIS WORLD WITH THEIR SITUATIONAL ETHICS A\D

DEGRADING OF HUMAN LIFE,

0 YOU HAVE WITNESSED THE HONEST INQUIRY OF SOME LIBERAL PRO

ABORTIONISTS INTO THE DEFENSABILITY OF THEIR POSITION,

0 YOU HAVE SEEN INDIVIDUALS TURN FROM WHAT THEY CALLED PRO

CHOICE TO THE PRO LIFE POSITION,

0 1 DOUBT THAT MANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN MOVEMENT IN THE

OPPOSITE DIRECTION,

o A NEW SUPREME COURT JUSTICE HAS FORTHRIGHTLY DECLARED THAT
ROWE V, WADE WAS ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH ITSELF,

AND THERE ARE SOME UP BEAT THINGS ON THE HORIZON AND IN THE

NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE:


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o THE RE-ELECTION OF A PRO LIFE PRESIDENT,

o PRO LIFE GAINS IN THE HOUSE,

o THE PROSPECT OF NEW APPOINTMENTS TO THE SUPREME COURT
DURING THE NEXT TERM OF PRESIDENT REAGAN,

I AND YET YOU ARE FORCED TO FACE THE FACT THAT THERE ARE STJLL

MORE THAN L,500,000 ABORTIONS PERFORMED EVERY YEAR IN THIS

COUNTRY,  YOU BELIEVE THAT THE ETHICS OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION

HAVE SLIPPED ABYSMALLY,  YOU ARE IN AN ANTAGONISTIC POSITION WITH

MOST OF THE SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS REPRESENTING ORGANIZED
HEALTH CARE IN THE UNITED STATES,  YOU LOB YOUR SHELLS AT THEM;

THEY RESPOND BY REFERRING TO YOU AS ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVISTS, AS

INDIVIDUALS WITH NOTHING MORE THAN A ONE ISSUE POLITICAL

MENTALITY, AND SOME EVEN CALL YOU AND ME THE LUNATIC FRINGE,

   1 WOULD LIKE YOU TO SUSPEND YOUR THINKING ON ABORTION FOR
JUST A MOMENT AND LET ME REMIND YOU OF SOMETHING 1 HAVE BEEN

TALKING ABOUT FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS AND FOR WHICH SOME OF MY
OPPONENTS, EVEN MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS, HAVE ROUNDLY CRITICIZED

ME FOR STATING,  IN THE LIFE ISSUES WHICH FACE US 1 AM CONVINCED

THAT THERE IS A DOMINO EFFECT,  1 DON'T THINK WE WOULD HAVE

ENTERED THE FIELD OF INFANTICIDE AS EARLY IN HISTORY OR AS DEEPLY

HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE DEVALUATION OF HUMAN LIFE CAUSED *By THE

MULTITUDE OF ABORTIONS TO THE POINT WHERE THERE WERE THOSE WHO

REFERRED TO A NEWBORN BABY AS A FETUS EX-UTERO THEREBY DEPRIVING


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HIM OR HER OF PERSONHOOD AND MAKING THE WITHDRAWAL OR THE

WITHHOLDING OF MEDICAL TREATMENT OR EVEN NOURISHMENT THAT MUCH

EASIER TO ACCOMPLISH,

  1 WAS FOND OF SAYING THAT THE FIRST DOMINO, ABORTION, FELL

WITH A LOUD BANG AND HAS DIVIDED OUR COUNTRY ON A SOCIAL ISSUE

THAT HAS NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE THE DAYS OF SLAVERY,  I USED TO

REFER TO INFANTICIDE, NOW EMASCULATED OF ITS TRUE MEANING WHEN IT
Is REFERRED To AS "A DECISION NOT TO TREAT/ - AS THE SILENT

DOMINO BECAUSE IT WAS WHEN PRACTICED IN HOSPITALS A WELL KEPT

SECRET,  THE OBSCURITY OF INFANTICIDE WAS LOST WITH THE BIRTH AND
THE DEATH OF A BABY IN BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA KNOWN ONLY AS BABY
DOE, THE ISSUE IS NOW DEBATED BY PHYSICIANS AND LAY PERSONS

ALIKE, AND THE CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING THE EFFORT TO PROTECT THE

LIVES OF IMPAIRED NEWBORNS HAS BEEN RELATIVELY SHORT,

  WHEN I MADE THE FILM, THF St AUGHTER OF THE INNOCFNTS, AS
PART OF THE SERIES, WHATFVFR HAPPFNFD TO THF HUMAN RACE, WITH
FRANCIS SCHAEFFER IN 1978 I WAS ESSENTIALLY THE ONLY PHYSICIAN IN

AMERICA WHO WAS SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE PRACTICE OF

INFANTICIDE,  IF YOU HAD TOLD ME THEN THAT IN FIVE YEARS EVERYONE

WOULD KNOW WHAT INFANTICIDE WAS, THAT THE DEBATE WOULD BE FAR AND
WIDE, AND THAT THERE WOULD BE FEDERAL REGULATIONS IN PLACE TO
PROTECT HANDICAPPED NEWBORNS 1 WOULD NEVER HAVE BELIEVED IT,
NEVER FORGET THAT IT WAS THE COMPASSION OF ONE INDIVIDUAL FOR
BABY DOE WHO HAD THE COURAGE TO TAKE A MORAL STAND AND DEMAND

THAT THIS EPISODE NEVER BE REPEATED THAT HAS ENABLED US TO COME

AS FAR AS WE HAVE,  THAT MAN WAS YOUR PRESIDENT, RONALD REAGAN.


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As 1 HAVE REVIEWED SOME OF THE HISTORY OF ABORTION, LET ME

DO THE SAME THING FOR INFANTICIDE,

0 IN 1973 1 HAD BEEN PRACTICING PEDIATRIC SURGERY FOR 27

  YEARS,  I WAS THE EDITOR IN CHIEF OF THE JOURNAI OF
PFDIATRIC SURGFR~, I WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE
SURGICAL SECTION OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS,
HAD JUST FINISHED MY TERM OF OFFICE AS PRESIDENT OF THE
AMERICAN PEDIATRIC SURGICAL ASSOCIATION, I MENTION ALL'
THESE THINGS MERELY TO INDICATE THAT 1 WAS IN A POSITION
TO KNOW OF WHAT 1 SPOKE WHEN I TALKED ABOUT THE

WITHHOLDING OF TREATMENT FROM HANDICAPPED NEWBORNS AND

CALLING IT WHAT IT WAS, - INFANTICIDE,

0 1 BEGAN TO SPEAK OUT AND TO QUERY WHY THERE WAS NO OUTCRY

EXCEPT MY OWN IN THE PROFESSION,

o IN A COMMENCEMENT SPEECH AT WHEATON COLLEGE, USING ROWE V,
WADE AS MY TEXT, I PREDICTED AMONG OTHER THINGS THAT "THE

NEWBORN INFANT WHO IS NOT PERFECT WILL BE THE NEXT
TARGET,@ - AND SURE ENOUGH HE WAS,

o IN 1974 THE LANDMARK PAPER IN THE NFW ENGI AND JOURNAI OF
MFDICIE BY DUFFENCAMPBELL NOT ONLY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE

AUTHORS HAD INDEED ENGINEERED THE DEATHS OF FOURTEEN

PERCENT OF THOSE WHO DIED IN THE NEWBORN INTENSIVE CARE


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UNITS BUT WERE PROUD OF IT AND ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO FOLLOW

SUIT,

0 POLLS INDICATED THAT MORE THAN FIFTY PERCENT OF

  PEDIATRICIANS HERE AND THERE ABOUT THE COUNTRY WOULD NOT
HAVE OFFERED LIFESAVING TREATMENT TO A BABY WITH DOWNS
SYNDROME PARTICULARLY IF THE FAMILY DID NOT WISH IT,

o A QUESTIONNAIRE ANSWERED BY MEMBERS OF THE SURGICAL
SECTION OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS AND

PROFESSORS OF PEDIATRICS IN THE VARIOUS MEDICAL SCHOOLS

ABOUT THE COUNTRY REVEALED SOME ASTONISHING CHANGES IN THE

ETHICS OF THE CARE OF THE NEWBORN,

o IN 1976 A SMALL PAPERBACK BOOK, THF RIGHT TO LIVF THE
RIGHT TO DIF, ENUNCIATED MANY OF MY CONCERNS,  THERE WAS

STILL NO OUTCRY FROM THE PROFESSION, INDEED NOT MUCH

RESPONSE AT ALL,

0 BY 1978 A NUMBER OF PEOPLE BELIEVED MY OFT STATED BELIEVE

  THAT THE PRO LIFE ISSUES WERE INDEED LIKE FALLING

  DOMINOES,

o THAT SAME YEAR 1978 SAW THE RELEASE OF THE FIVE FILMS
JHATEVFR HAPPFNED TO THF HUMAN RACF WITH FRANCIS . *
SCHAEFFER,


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  BY LATE 1979 AND EARLY 1980 THE SAME ACCESS 1 'HAD TO
INFORMATION ALREADY REFERRED TO LED ME TO BELIEVE THAT ATTITUDES

HAD INDEED BEGUN TO CHANGE.  1 HOPE THE FILMS AND THE BOOKS WERE
IN PART RESPONSIBLE, THE FILMS WERE SEEN BY SEVERAL MILLION
PEOPLE, WHATFVFR HAPPFNED TO THF HUMAN RACF EXCEEDED 250,000 IN
SALES, AND THF RIGHT TO LIVF THF RIGHT TO DIF PASSED THE 100,000
MARK IN 1982,

o IN 1982 FOLLOWING A SYMPOSIUM ON "INFANTICIDE AND THE
HANDICAPPED CHILD" A BOOK OF THE SAME TITLE WAS PUBLISHED
EDITED BY HORAN AND DELAHOYDE,

BY THIS TIME IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THE PRACTICE OF

INFANTICIDE NOW BETTER KNOWN BY MANY IN THE PRO LIFE GROUPS HAD
ACTUALLY PEAKED OUT IN FREQUENCY AND WAS BEGINNING TO DECLINE,
THE HEALTH PROFESSIONS WERE AWARE ALTHOUGH MANY NOT INTIMATELY
INVOLVED DENIED IT AND OTHERS JUST DIDN'T KNOW,  THE GENERAL

PUBLIC WAS ESSENTIALLY UNKNOWING,  THEN THE BLOOMINGTON BABY WAS
BORN AND THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF INDIANA CONFIRMED THE
DECISION REACHED BY THE PARENTS AND A PEDIATRICIAN THAT THE CHILD

SHOULD NOT BE FED,  IT DIED PROBABLY AS THE RESULT OF STARVATION
AND DEHYDRATION AS WELL AS ASPIRATION OF GASTRIC ACID THROUGH ITS
CONGENITAL DEFECT A TRACHEO ESOPHAGEAL FISTULA,  PRESIDENT REAGAN
WAS INCENSED AND DIRECTED THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO TAKE STEPS TO SEE THAT


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THIS SORT OF OCCURRENCE WOULD NOT BE REPEATED, LETTERS WERE SENT
BY THE OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS-TO EACH OF THE HOSPITALS IN THE

COUNTRY CALLING THEIR ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT DISCRIMINATION

AGAINST A CHILD ON THE BASIS OF HIS HANDICAP WAS FORBIDDEN IN
HOSPITALS SUPPORTED BY FEDERAL FUNDS AND THAT THE ULTIMATE
PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF SECTION 504 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT OF
1973 WAS WITHHOLDING FEDERAL FUNDS,

   IT WAS EVIDENT THAT THERE WAS STILL THE PRACTICE OF

WITHHOLDING SUSTENANCE AND TREATMENT FROM HANDIAPPED NEWBORNS AND
DURING THE TRANSITION FROM SECRETARY SCHWEIKER TO SECRETARY
HECKLER AN INTERIM FINAL RULE WAS PUBLISHED TO AMEND SECTION
504, THE GOVERNMENT WAS SUED BY THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF
PEDIATRICS, THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS, AND
THE NATIONAL CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER IN WASHINGTON, THE

PLAINTIFFS WON IN COURT BEFORE JUDGE GEARHARD GESSELL ON THE
PROCESS RATHER THAN THE SUBSTANCE OF THE REGULATION. ANOTHER
SUIT INITIATED BY THE AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION BECAME MOOT

WHEN THE AFOREMENTIONED DECISION WAS REACHED,

THE REGULATIONS WERE REWRITTEN, THIS TIME WITH A LENGTHY

PREAMBLE AND WITH GUIDELINES AND SPECIFIC INCIDENCES OF WHAT THE

GOVERNMENT WAS TRYING TO DO IN THE PROTECTION OF IMPAIRED

NEWBORNS AND WHAT IT WAS NOT TRYING TO DO,  THESE REGULATIONS
WERE PUBLISHED IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER IN EARLY JULY WITH A 60-
DAY COMMENT PERIOD ENDING AT ABOUT LABOR DAY OF 1983, HERE'S

WHERE WE WERE AT THAT TIME:


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0 WE HAD A RIGHTEOUS CAUSE,

0 WE HAD A LAW, - SECTION 504 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT TO

SAY NOTHING ABOUT THE 1AWS IN EVERY STATE OF THE UNION

PROHIBITING THE KILLING OF ANYONE AT ANY AGE FOR ANY

REASON,

o THE GOVERNMENT WAS SEVERELY MISUNDERSTOOD,

o THE ADMINISTRATION WAS CONSTANTLY CRITICIZED,

0 I, WHO HAD ESSENTIALLY NO ROLE IN THE INTERIM FINAL RULE
OR THE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING IN JULY OF 1983, WAS

  VILIFIED EDITORIALLY FROM COAST TO COAST,

o ORGANIZED MEDICINE WAS VIGOROUSLY OPPOSED TO THE RULES,
THIS INCLUDED OTHER HEALTH CARE SOCIETIES, ORGANIZATIONS,

AND ASSOCIATIONS AS WELL,

o THERE WERE MANY INCONGRUOUS CIRCUMSTANCES (AS THERE ARE

WITH ABORTION),  THE MOST BIZARRE OF THESE BEING THAT OUR

GREATEST OPPOSITION CAME FROM THOSE WHO ADVERTISED

THEMSELVES TO BE ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN BUT OPPOSED THE

GOVERNMENT THAT SOUGHT TO PROTECT THEM,


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  IT MAY BE INCORRECT TO DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENED NEXT AS A
MIRACLE, BUT 1 THINK 1 CAN BE FORGIVEN IF 1 USE THE ADJECTIVE

MIRACULOUS,  A DIALOGUE BEGAN BETWEEN THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAD SUED

US AND THOSE WHO HAD SUPPORTED US,  THOSE THAT HAD SUPPORTED us

ORGANIZATIONALLY WERE THE ADVOCACY GROUPS REPRESENTING THE
HANDICAPPED AS WELL AS SOME OF THE PRO LIFE ORGANIZATIONS, IT

WAS THE HANDICAPPED ADVOCATES THAT ENTERED INTO THE DIALOGUE WITH

THOSE WHO OPPOSED US,

o WHILE THIS WAS GOING ON ALMOST 17,000 COMMENTS WERE COMING

INTO HHS AND HAD TO BE SORTED AFTER READING INTO

APPROPRIATE CATEGORIES AND AN EVENTUAL RESPONSE WRITTEN,
ALL OF THIS APPEARS IN THE RULES NOW PUBLISHED IN THE
FEDERAL REGISTER,  YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED TO KNOW THAT A

MAJORITY OF THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES WRITING IN AS

INDIVIDUALS SUPPORTED THE REGULATIONS,  A MAJORITY OF

PHYSICIANS OTHER THAN PEDIATRICIANS AND NEONATOLOGISTS, A

MAJORITY OF NURSES, AND AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THE
PARENTS OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN AND ALL OF THE ORGANIZE;

HANDICAPPED ADVOCACY GROUPS,

o THE GOVERNMENT IN GENERAL AND I IN PARTICULAR, TALKED AND

TALKED, TRIED TO UNDERSTAND, AND TRIED TO EXPLAIN,

0 A REGULATION WAS BORN THAT IS ESSENTIALLY NO DIFFERENT IN

SUBSTANCE THAN THE FIRST BUT ONE IN WHICH INFLAMMATORY


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LANGUAGE IS REMOVED, UNNECESSARILY HARSH AND IMPALPABLE

RULES WERE SOFTENED OR.ELIMINATED,

o ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES THAT STARTED BACK

IN THE SUMMER WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED DIALOGUE BETWEEN
OPPOSING FORCES CAME TO FRUITION ON THE 29Tt-i OF NOVEMBER
IN A PUBLISHED STATEMENT ON "PRINCIPLES FOR THE CARE OF
HANDICAPPED NEWBORNS,"  THIS STATEMENT WAS SIGNED BY THE
ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS AND THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF '
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS, BY THE NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR
UNIVERSITY AFFILIATED FACILITIES AND SIX ADVOCATE GROUPS

FOR THE HANDICAPPED,  1 MUST TELL YOU THAT THESE
PRINCIPLES ARE SO STRICT THAT 1 WOULD HAVE HESITATED TO

WRITE THEM AND PROPOSE THEM FOR SIGNATURE BY GROUPS AS

DIVERSE AS THOSE THAT DID SIGN,

0 A GREAT EFFORT WAS EXPENDED TO CLARIFY OUR POSITION, TO

  SPELL OUT DETAIL, TO GIVE GUIDELINES AND EXAMPLES, AND TO

OFFER SPECIFIC CASE HISTORIES TO CLARIFY WHAT WE WERE r

  TRYING TO DO AND WHAT WE WERE NOT TRYING TO DO,  MANY

QUOTATIONS FROM THE LETTERS FROM THE PARENTS OF

HANDICAPPED CHILDREN WERE INCLUDED,

THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT WE HAVE A REGULATION:


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o THAT PROTECTS CHILDREN BASED UPON UNASSAILABLE PRINCIPLES

IN THE MANAGEMENT OF IMPAIRED NEWBORNS,

o THAT IS ACCEPTABLE TO THOSE WHO ARE ON THE FIRING LINE

WITH NEWBORN DECISIONS DAY BY DAY,

o THAT INVOLVES THE COMMUNITY AND ADVOCATES FOR THE DISABLED

IN ANY DECISION MAKING PROCESS,

0 A REGULATION MADE IN THE CLIMATE WHERE - BECAUSE OF THE

HISTORY ALREADY ACCOUNTED - THE PROTOCOL FOR THE

ESTABLISHMENT OF INFANT CARE REVIEW COMMITTEES IN

HOSPITALS WILL BE UNDERTAKEN BY GROUPS THAT DID NOT SPEAK

TO EACH OTHER EIGHT MONTHS AGO,

0 A REGULATION THAT STILL PERMIT-S NOTIFICATION OF VIOLATION
OF SECTION 504 TO STATE CHILD PROTECTION SERVICE AGENCIES
AND TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES so THAT

THEY CAN STEP IN TO INVESTIGATE SITUATIONS WHERE VIOLATION

OF THE LAW IS SUSPECTED,

  COULD THE RULE BE TIGHTER? YES, WOULD THAT BE
PREFERABLE? No.  WHEN YOU DEMAND 100 PERCENT YOU TAKE A GREAT

RISK OF GETTING NOTHING,  WHEN YOU ARE WILLING TO AIM FOR 95

PERCENT YOU VERY FREQUENTLY GET 97 PERCENT OR BETTER. THE

ALTERNATIVE TO THESE REGULATIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN CONSTANT


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LITIGATION WITH EVENTUAL REFERRAL TO THE SUPREME COURT AND THE

RISK OF LOSING IN THAT DECISION,

  IT GRIEVES ME TO HERE THE SHRILL VOICES OF SOME IN THE PRO
LIFE MOVEMENT LASHING OUT ABRASIVELY AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION

AND AGAINST ME PERSONALLY BECAUSE OF THE RULES ANNOUNCED IN
REFERENCE TO SECTION 504 ON JANUARY 9, IT ESPECIALLY GRIEVES ME

WHEN THESE VOICES BELONG TO THOSE WHO DIDN'T KNOW WHAT
INFANTICIDE WAS UNTIL 1 TOLD THEM ABOUT IT AND DIDN'T UNDERSTAiD

ITS GRAVITY FOR YEARS,  1 SINCERELY TRUST THAT WHEN THESE TEMPER

TANTRUMS ARE OVER THE PRO LIFE MOVEMENT WILL ONCE AGAIN RECOGNIZE

ITS FRIENDS IN GOVERNMENT AND GET ON WITH THE JOB OF SAVING

LIVES,

  YOU WILL RECALL THAT 1 ASKED YOU A FEW MINUTES AGO TO
SUSPEND YOUR THINKING ABOUT ABORTION WHILE 1 TALKED A LITTLE BIT

ABOUT INFANTICIDE,  1 FINISHED THAT SUBJECT AND NOW WISH TO TELL
YOU WHY 1 CONSIDER SPEAKING FOR THAT LENGTH OF TIME ABOUT

INFANTICIDE IS IMPORTANT TO YOU,  FIRST OF ALL THESE LIFE ISSUES

HANG TOGETHER AND I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT A DISINFRANCHISED

GROUP OF NEWBORNS WHO WITH THE SEMANTIC APPALATION OF FETUS EX-

UTERO ARE SUBJECT TO THE SAME LOSS OF PERSONHOOD AS AN UNBORN

BABY IN THE WOMB AND THEREFORE NOT PROTECTED BY LAW,  1 AM ALSO

SPEAKING SPECIFICALLY TO A GROUP OF PRO LIFE PEOPLE WHO ARE ON

THE FIRING LINE DAY BY DAY, WHO ARE THE MOVERS AND THE SHAK,ERS

AND FROM WHOM ANYTHING CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE MUST COME,


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   1 ALSO HAVE RECOUNTED THIS HISTORY BECAUSE 1 AM CONVINCED
THAT EITHER THROUGH LEGISLATION THROUGH THE CONGRESS OR BY
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS MADE AFTER NEW APPOINTMENTS TO THE BENCH

ARE WE GOING TO HAVE A MUCH MORE PALATABLE SITUATION IN REFERENCE

TO ABORTION THAN THE ONE WE NOW ENDURE,  JUST BE CERTAIN THAT THE
RIGHT MAN IS IN THE WHITE HOUSE WHEN THE TIME COMES TO FILL

VACANCIES ON THE BENCH,  IF THERE WAS EVER A JUSTIFICATION FOR
YOUR MAXIMAL EFFORT TO GET THIS PRO LIFE PRESIDENT RE-ELECTED c

THERE IT IS,  THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION HAS LONG

SINCE BEEN SO INVOLVED IN THE POLITICAL SCENE THAT SOME OF US

DOUBT THE VALIDITY OF THEIR CHARTER AS A HEALTH ORGANIZATION HAVE
RECENTLY POLLED ALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC FOR PRESIDENT EXCEPT JESSE
JACKSON, ALL ARE IN FAVOR OF ABORTION, MOST BELIEVE IN FEDERAL
FUNDING FOR ABORTION AND ALL THINK THE SURGEON GENERAL SHOULD BE

REPLACED FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS,  IN AS MUCH AS THE MAIN

OPPOSITION TO MY APPOINTMENT WAS MY ANTI ABORTION STAND AND IN AS
MUCH AS THAT HASN'T CHANGED ONE BIT I SUSPECT THAT WHATEVER
REASONS ARE GIVEN THE HIDDEN ONE IS STILL WHERE I STAND ON THIS

                                                                   '
VITAL ISSUE,  IF WE ARE GOING TO HAVE THE ADVANCES 1 HAVE
SUGGESTED BY ONE PATHWAY OR ANOTHER IN DAYS AHEAD 1 THINK IT

BEHOOVES US TO BEGIN TO TALK TO AT LEAST SOME OF THOSE WHO ARE ON

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISSUE,  I THINK A DIALOGUE WOULD DO MUCH TO

HASTEN THE DAY AND TO MAKE THE NECESSARY APPLICABLE LAW IF EACH

SIDE KNEW THE OTHER AND SOME OF THEIR CONCERNS AND CHERISHED

HOPES,


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LET ME GIVE YOU ANOTHER EXAMPLE FROM ANOTHER PHASE OF MY

LIFE IN GOVERNMENT,  1 AM CONVINCED THAT THE VIOLENCE EXHIBITED

ON TELEVISION IS DETRIMENTAL TO THE HEALTH OF OUR SOCIETY AND
ESPECIALLY DETRIMENTAL TO OUR YOUTH AND OUR CHILDREN, RESEARCH

BY THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR TEN YEARS AND HAS BEEN
REPORTED TO CONGRESS BY THREE SURGEONS GENERAL AND NOTHING HAS
COME OF IT IN THE WAY OF LAW, RULE, OR REGULATION, THE

GOVERNMENT STILL LOBS ITS SHELLS AT THE NETWORKS AND THE NETWORKS

RESPOND IN KIND,  LAST TUESDAY I BEGAN THE FIRST OF THREE

SEPARATE DIALOGUES AIMED TO BREAK THIS STALEMATE,  1 SAT DOWN
WITH EXECUTIVES FROM CBS AND INSTEAD OF HAVING AN ABRASIVE

CONVERSATION ABOUT THE QUALITY OF EACH OTHERS RESEARCH WE

DISCUSSED WAYS AND MEANS THAT WE COULD COOPERATE WITH EACH OTHER

AND WITH THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY TO INVESTIGATE WHY OUR SOCIETY IS

SO ATTRACTED TO VIOLENCE AND WHY THAT ATTRACTION HAS PRODUCED THE

BYSTANDER SYNDROME WHERE AN INDIVIDUAL SEEING ANOTHER ASSAULTED

WILL NOT ONLY NOT COME TO HIS OR HER AID BUT MIGHT STAND BY AND
CHEER ON THE ASSAILANT AS HAPPENED RECENTLY IN A RAPE IN NEW
BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS,

EVEN WITH A FAVORABLE TURN THAT I PREDICT THE FIGHT WILL

NEVER BE ABLE TO SHELVE OUR CONCERNS AND SAY THAT'S DONE,
INSTEAD WE HAVE TO GUIDE WHAT Is TO COME INTO BEING TO THE BEST

OF OUR ABILITY AND WE HAVE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION FOR

COMPLIANCE THEREAFTER,  THAT IS ANOTHER REASON WHY I SAY IT WILL

BE THAT MUCH EASIER AND MORE PRODUCTIVE IF WE ARE TALKING TO
PEOPLE OF THE CALIBER OF LETS SAY THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF


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OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNECOLOGISTS AND MOVE ON FROM THERE TO OTHER

GROUPS THAT MIGHT BE ENCOURAGED BY THAT DIALOGUE,

I WOULD BE REMISS IF 1 LEFT WITHOUT SAYING THANK YOU TO MANY

OF YOU INDIVIDUALLY AND TO THE GROUPS YOU REPRESENT FOR THE
MANNER IN WHICH YOU HAVE CONDUCTED THE FIGHT UP UNTIL NOW,  You
HAVE PRICKED THE CONSCIENCE OF AMERICA AND I KNOW THAT YOU WON'T

LET THAT WOUND HEAL READILY,  ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE, THIS IS
THE'FIRST TIME 1 HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO THANK MANY OF YOU'
FOR YOUR TIMELY AND MUCH APPRECIATED SUPPORT DURING MY EARLY DARK
DAYS IN WASHINGTON WHEN THE MEDIA AND THE WEALTHIER OF OUR

OPPONENTS JOINED TOGETHER TO DISCREDIT ME AND TO ATTEMPT TO ROB
ME OF MY POTENTIAL ON THE BASIS OF MY LONG PRO LIFE STAND, I
HAVEN'T CHANGED MY POINT OF VIEW I STAND WHERE I ALWAYS STOOD AND
1 WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE REMINDING YOU OF THE DEDICATION THAT
FRANCIS SCHAEFFER AND I WROTE ON THE FRONTICE PIECE OF WHATFVFR
HAPPFNFD TO THF HUMAN RACE:  "To THOSE WHO ARE ROBBED OF LIFE,

THE UNBORN, THE WEAK, THE SICK, THE OLD, DURING THE DARK AGES OF
MADNESS, SELFISHNESS, LUST AND GREED FOR WHICH THE LAST DECADES
OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ARE REMEMBERED/