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NEITHER RIGHT NOR LEFT---DR. EVERETT KOOP

By Wesley G. Pippert

Despite attacks from both sides, Surgeon General C.

Everett Koop has remained a faithful servant of all the
people

Of all the Christians in public life, few face as much

pressure from the world—and from fellow believers—as

U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.

In 1981, when President Ronald Reagan appointed him to

head the U.S. Public Health Service's corps of 5,300

doctors, Koop had already gained international reknown

as a pediatric surgeon who had successfully separated

Siamese twins. In fact, his fame was only just

beginning.

Koop was appointed as the darling of the

anti-abortionists, as a man who had co-authored with

evangelical scholar Francis Schaeffer a 1979 book
entitled, Whatever Happened to the Human Race? He was

viewed with suspicion and downright opposition by
liberals in the U.S. Senate, which took months to

confirm what normally was a routine Presidential

appointment.

But he promised not to use his post as a bully pulpit

against abortion. And he hasn't.

Last year Reagan asked Koop to write a report on the

health and emotional effects of abortion on women. The
clear assumption on Reagan's part was that an abortion

scars a woman emotionally. But Koop replied, "I regret,

Mr. President, in spite of a diligent review on the part

of many in the Public Health Service and in the private

sector, the scientific studies do not provide conclusive

data about the health effects of abortion on women."

Now, his former liberal adversaries praise him as a man

by whom all future surgeons general will be measured.

Fellow Christians have accused him of betrayal.

When the AIDS epidemic broke out in the mid-1980's, Koop

took up the crusade against it. He issued a 1986 report

that strongly advocated the use of condoms—which

offended many evangelicals who saw condoms as
interfering with God's use of AIDS as punishment for

sexual immorality.

Again, there were cries of betrayal.

But this, like the criticism over abortion, leaves Koop

unperturbed.

"I remain as opposed to abortion as ever," he once said,

"but I've always been able to separate my personal
beliefs from my responsibilities as Surgeon General."

And certainly those responsibilities have been

discharged well. No other Surgeon General has matched

the diversity and effectiveness of Koop's efforts. In

addition to AIDS, Koop has taken on Goliath's like

these:

He continued the Surgeon General's anti-smoking campaign

and said he hopes to see a moke-free America by the year

2000. Since Surgeon General Luther Terry first linked

smoking and cancer 25 years ago, millions of Americans

have quit, a fact which Koop called "one of the greatest

health achievements of all time."

He joined the American College of Obstetricians and

Gynecologists in distributing information to doctors to
help alert them to the victims of spouse abuse. "In

this country no man has a license to beat and get by
with it," Koop said, "and no woman is obliged to accept

a beating and get by with it."

He said the nation's number one nutritional priority was

to decrease the amount of dietary fat ingested by the

general public. It was the most comprehensive report on

nutrition ever produced by the U.S. government.

When he became Surgeon General, Koop's first priority

became handicapped children and their families, a
natural follow-up from his 35 years of working with

children in Philadelphia. The elderly also became a

priority, as well as violence at home. But, of course,

nothing caught the public's attention like his work on

AIDS.

As effective as Koop is, however, his statement that he

is able to separate his personal beliefs from his public
responsibilities is provocative and should not go

unchallenged. It is an issue that all Christians face

in balancing the demands of their professional tasks

with their beliefs. And it drives to the heart of how

the Holy Spirit directs our lives.

Are we to be sensitive to the Spirit's leading only

during our times of Sunday worship and private

devotions? Does He guide us only in times of fellowship

with other Christians, particularly those with whom we
share similar opinions about politics and society? Or

does the Holy Spirit also guide us in every aspect of
our lives, including the way we interpret and carry out

our job Monday through Friday?

In other words, is separation of faith and profession a

valid goal for the serious Christian? In candor one
must acknowledge that Koop has been criticized by some

Christians for the professional decisions and statements
he has made as surgeon general. One of his critics is

conservative columnist Cal Thomas, who shares Koop's

Christian faith eagerly and effectively both in his

writings and in his personal life.

"How many people who are `pro-choice' have ever

separated their personal beliefs from public policy as a
courtesy to the pro-lifers they might offend?" writes

Thomas. "Long-time supporters of Dr. Koop are bitter
and depressed. Many wonder what difference it makes to

have someone of Dr. Koop's philosophy…when an atheist
would have performed just as effectively for the left."

There are no easy answers here. Koop is required by law

to pursue the health and welfare of all the citizens of

this country, be they pro-choice or pro-life,

heterosexual or gay. The very nature of his office

requires that he rise above pressure from special

interest groups, including those which represent his

own, personal beliefs.

Yet, in spite of those restraints, Koop does exert

Christian influence in the exercising of his duties.

His speeches on AIDS, for example, go far beyond a mere

admonition to use condoms. He asserts, first and
foremost, that abstinence and monogamous marriage are
the safest protection against AIDS, doing so in language

that clearly espouses Biblical truth.

The breadth of his activity as surgeon general also

indicates that he is interested in physical and

emotional wholeness, a position quite consistent with

the Gospel. And his medical conclusions always indicate
a commitment to truth and fairness even if it means

alienating a particular group. In the end, being true

to his convictions is more important to Koop than
pleasing his friends, even his Christian ones.

The ability to stand for truth in spite of conflicting

loyalties requires firm faith and a strong backbone.

Not surprisingly, Koop is the kind of person who exudes

character. He is an imposing man who speaks

authoritatively, almost sternly. But beneath his ramrod

demeanor is someone who has experienced suffering and
appreciates the value of life.

The mountain-climbing death of Koop's son, a Dartmouth

student, tested and tempered him. And in the course of
his professional career he has been forced to live

day-in and day-out with the painful, hard-to-understand
suffering of children. It was while he was chief

surgeon at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia that he
performed the separation of two babies joined at the

skull.

Koop became a Christian while attending Philadelphia's

Tenth Presbyterian Church then pastored by Donald G.

Barnhouse.

"He sat for two years in the balcony and listened," the

church's present pastor, James Montgomery Boice,
recalls. "His beeper never went off during the Sunday

morning and night services," a minor miracle that Koop
took to mean that God wanted him to listen to the

Gospel.

And listen he did. Eventually he became (and remains)

an elder of the congregation. And it is from his
brothers and sisters at church—people who presumably

know him well—that Koop receives the most ringing
endorsements for both the quality of his character and

the integrity of his faith. "He handles pressure

well—he seems to thrive on it. He's superb at it,"

Boice says. "I think he is a great model of a Christian

in government" (an opinion reflected by Tom Getman of

World Vision). "He has protected the integrity of his
own views, yet is the servant of all the people."

Wesley Pippert is a journalist who covered Koop's

confirmation hearings for UPI.

A note from editor Alan Gold:

"There is Nothing New Under The Sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

Koop's career bears a striking resemblance to that of

Thomas A. Beckett, archbishop of Canterbury in the

twelfth century. Before entering the church, Thomas A.

Beckett was a secular professional—the chancellor, chief

advisor and best friend of Henry II. The king appointed

Thomas archbishop in hopes of using his buddy to gain

more state control over the church.

C. Everett Koop was the darling of the Christian right,

appointed by the President in hopes of exerting more
church influence over the state.

Beckett, however, was transformed by the

responsibilities of his office and became a defender of

the church, blocking the appointment of Henry's men to

church posts and rejecting his attempts to make

ecclesiastical courts subject to secular ones. In 1170,

Beckett was murdered at the altar of Canterbury

cathedral. His last words were, "for the name of Jesus

and for the defense of the Church I am ready to embrace

death."

Koop, too, chose the integrity of his office over the

hidden agenda of his ruler. And while we don't fire
people by killing them anymore, Koop has certainly

suffered attacks against his character and slurs against
his faith.

One man was a secular appointee to a religious position,

the other a religious appointee to a secular position.

But in both cases, they chose to fulfill the high

calling of their office rather than the political
demands of their friends. And both of them will be long

remembered as outstanding examples of Christians who had

a job to do, and did it well.

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