A 15-year-old controversy surrounding the pro-life Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, abortion and depression took a prominent role in a recent congressional hearing on women's health. The incident served as a testament to the influence held by the prominent surgeon general and is a reminder that the question of a connection between abortion and depression remains much as it did way back in 1989.
A September 29 meeting of the US House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health explored the relationship between depression and pregnancy and heard testimony on both postpartum depression and post-abortion depression. Democrats on the committee raised strong objections to the inclusion of abortion in the hearing since, they claimed, research indicates that post-abortion depression does not exist.
However, the greatest controversy arose after the testimony of pro-abortion doctor Nada Stotland. Under questioning from Representative Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Stotland made the claim that Koop, who served as Surgeon General under President Ronald Reagan, had testified that there was no connection between abortion and depression.
An examination of the 1989 Congressional Record and transcripts of the hearing indicate that Koop's testimony is being misused by pro-abortion partisans like Stotland who quote Koop as saying, “the psychological effects of abortion are miniscule from a public health perspective.”
In March 16, 1989 testimony before the House Committee on Government Operations, Koop was asked by Rep. Ted Weiss (D-NY) whether the contention that long-term psychological effect of abortion are rare was “consistent with your remarks at several meetings on this topic in which you refer to the psychological problem as 'minuscule' from the public health perspective.” Koop replied, “From a public health perspective, that is true.” This is the sentence used by pro-abortion partisans to prove that the pro-life surgeon general denied any connection between abortion and depression. What Koop meant by the phrase “public health perspective” has never been made clear. But in the very next sentence of his testimony Koop seemed to confirm at least some kind of abortion depression link. “From the personal perspective, from the family perspective, it is overwhelming,” Koop said.
The misrepresentation of Koop's quote took on a life of its own when Weiss later made an entry into the Congressional Record that quotes Koop as saying the possible psychological effects of abortion are “miniscule from a public health perspective.” The Congressional Record shows that Koop never used that precise phrase and that his other quotes were dropped.
Koop was critical of the way his letter to Reagan was being misrepresented by pro-abortion advocates. “It is worth mentioning that the first press release by a wire service after my visit to the White House completely misinterpreted my letter to the president. The release said that there was 'no evidence of health effects post-abortion' rather than saying that there was insufficient scientific evidence on which to base an unimpeachable report.”
(This update courtesy of the Culture of Life Foundation.)
