Charles Everett Koop became the Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan after a career as a pediatric surgeon.  He established the first neonatal surgical intensive care unit in the country, and his new surgical procedures contributed saving the lives of countless babies, including those who would ordinarily be deemed “incompatible with life.”  He was the author of The Right to Life, The Right to Die, in which he expressed his opposition to abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.  Additionally, he became involved in the case of Baby Doe, an infant born with serious birth defects who was denied surgical treatment that could have saved Baby Doe’s life.  In so doing, Dr. Koop became deeply concerned about protecting the rights of newborns with serious birth defects.[1]