Respect Life Convention hails 'a family for life'

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Archbishop Robert J. Carlson addressed participants at the 34th annual Respect Life Convention Oct. 24 at the St. Charles Convention Center. Nearly 800 people attended this year’s convention. The keynote speaker was Dr. Thomas Hilgers, founder of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. It could also then be said that it takes an entire family to be pro-life.

That was the message conveyed to nearly 800 people who attended the 34th annual archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate Convention Oct. 24 at the St. Charles Convention Center. The theme of this year’s convention, which is sponsored by the archdiocesan Respect Life Apostolate, was “A Family for Life.”

The daylong event included Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Robert J. Hermann in the morning, followed by a luncheon and keynote talk by Dr. Thomas Hilgers, founder and director of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Neb. Also during the luncheon, the annual Cardinal Carberry Award was presented to David and Patricia Drury; the Bishop McNicholas Award was presented to the Men for Life Club at DeSmet Jesuit High School.

This year, the convention once again featured panel-style workshops on topics including natural family planning, how to talk politics among family and friends, preparing for the end of life at any age and maintaining pro-life values in any vocation. A new feature at the event was a child care service for families.

“I have heard several people say how uplifting it is to have seen so many young people here today from the high schools,” said Beth Lauver, director of the Respect Life Apostolate. “To see that whole team here from De-Smet … and the rousing standing ovation they got, which was so well deserved. They said their goal is to make it cool to be pro-life. We hope that is what every teenager in this archdiocese and the country is setting their mind to doing.”

Keynote speaker Hilgers helped develop the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, one of several Church-accepted natural methods of fertility regulation. He also is the force behind NaPro Technology, a medicine-based health science that monitors and maintains a woman’s reproductive and gynecological health. The Pope Paul VI Institute celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.

During his talk, Hilgers spoke about the importance of building a culture of life in women’s health care. He noted that culture has shifted in the last 25 years from offering abortion services to women in cases of rape, incest and fetal deformities, to one in which women, who “so desperately want to have a child,” turn to artificial means of creating life through techniques such as in vitro fertilization. IVF, he said, presents moral problems such as freezing unused embryos (for every baby born through IVF, five human embryos die, he noted) and the possibility of selective reduction of multiple children being carried in the womb.

“This is really a slippery slope in action,” he noted. The office of the OB/GYN has become the focus of the culture of death.

The problem with these artificial technologies, said Hilgers, is that they do not uncover the underlying cause of a woman’s infertility.

“We’ve done a great disservice to women,” he said of the medical profession.

The Pope Paul VI Institute was founded as a direct response to Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical, “Humanae Vitae,” in which the late pontiff called on all medical professionals to pursue medical solutions that are in “accord with faith and right reason.”

Through its work, the institute has been able to treat women for gynecological problems, such as endometriosis, hormonal imbalances and polycystic ovarian syndrome, and help women achieve pregnancy. He cited several success stories, including that of a woman who had struggled with infertility for six years, only to become pregnant after taking a vitamin B6 supplement to improve her days of fertility. The institute also has helped start about 220 FertilityCare Centers in the United States, and its work has spread to about two dozen countries across the globe.

Hilgers noted that the current state of mainstream health care for women does, in fact, have an effect on the family. Through artificial reproductive technologies, couples are taught that life should be treated as a commodity, rather than a gift from God. Using natural methods of achieving or avoiding the creation of a family leads to improved communication, too.

“The rise of the divorce rate in the ’60s until about the ’90s was mainly attributable to the introduction of technological contraception,” he said. “There’s a huge shift in our culture and it’s been disastrous.”

The Catholic Church must take a leadership role in transforming the culture of life within health care, said Hilgers. “We as Catholics have a special charism on these issues.”

Several conference attendees said they enjoyed this year’s speakers. Emily and Ken Behrle, members of Holy Trinity Parish in St. Ann, attended the event with their four children, Chloe, 6, Luke, 4, Ben, 3, and Maria, eight months.

Emily Behrle noted that when her family arrived at the convention center, she was encountered by a stranger, who said, “Hello beautiful family!”

“This is quite the contrast to the comments I usually get when I’m out with four young children,” she explained. “Usually it’s ‘Oh my. You have your hands full,’ or ‘Are you finished?’ or even an occasional, ‘Don’t you know what causes that?’ Our culture, which disregards life, has the same disdain for the family.”

Behrle said it’s important for her children to see themselves and others as “valuable, which will hopefully translate later into them seeing the pre-born person as valuable.” The conference, she said, “was a wonderful, positive experience for our family. The Church has to remain pro-family.”

Cardinal John J. Carberry Award

Established in 1978, the Cardinal John J. Carberry Award is presented to an individual or individuals who have made a significant contribution to the respect life movement. This year’s award was presented to David and Patricia Drury, members of St. Norbert Parish in Florissant who have worked tirelessly within the respect life movement for decades.

David Drury is an attorney and has served as president of Lawyers for Life for more than two decades. In his work, he has defended the rights of pregnancy care centers, helping women with paternity cases and developing local ordinances to limit Planned Parenthood locations, among other initiatives. Patricia has provided counseling at pregnancy resource centers for more than 20 years and has testified in front of the Missouri legislature in favor of pro-life legislation. She also serves as the parish’s respect life committee coordinator. The Drurys have five children and one grandchild.

This year’s Bishop Joseph A. McNicholas Award was presented to the Men for Life Club at DeSmet Jesuit High School in Creve Coeur. Established in 1983, the award, named for a the late St. Louis auxiliary bishop, is given to a local high school or parish youth group that exemplifies a consistent ethic of respect for all life.

Members of the Men for Life Club have promoted various educational and spiritual activities during the school’s Pro-Life Week, traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual March for Life and represented the school at the annual Birthright run/walk to benefit mothers who face unplanned pregnancies.

Jack McAtee, a junior at DeSmet and president of the Men for Life Club, said one of the goals of the club is to let others know that being pro-life is not just a woman’s issue.

The group’s mission is “to advocate educate and initiate a culture of life,” said McAtee. “We believe that as young men today, it is the duty of all Catholics to protect the sanctity of life from conception until natural death.”