On 5/26/00 I chanced upon C. Everett Koop, the former U.S. Surgeon General, eating dinner in a restaurant; after discretely waiting for him to finish eating, I introduced myself. After exchanging cordialities I told him that I have for many years been trying to raise public awareness on the key importance of limiting population size through Family Planning in order to raise standards of living and reduce environmental impact. I asked Dr. Koop what he thought of the importance of this issue and if he could offer any advice on how citizens should approach elected representatives with these concerns. Dr. Koop said that he was in complete agreement with the importance of my aims, even saying, “I’ll do anything to keep sperm from egg,” He also offered the following advice. Politicians, he said, are fearful of the subject of Family Planning because of its association with abortion, a practice which he and many people strongly oppose. Dr. Koop said that the key to gaining political support for Family Planning is to separate the idea of contraception, which most people are in favor of, from abortion.
     Dr. Koop went on to say that many concerned citizens have been lulled into inactivity by false reports that third world peasants cannot be educated in Family Planning techniques. From his own experience working with Mother Theresa, third world women achieved a 90 percent compliance rate with Family Planning techniques, he said.
      My impromptu meeting with Dr. Koop was so cordial that one meeting led to another and finally to an exchange of postal addresses. The moral of the story is that if you see the chance to talk to someone, take it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.