A voice in the wilderness

Deacon Mark Fair is the chief executive officer of the St. John Paul II Center and the Vitae Clinic as well as a permanent deacon at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Austin.

The St. John Paul II Life Center combines pregnancy help services, natural integrated OB-GYN health care, and life-affirming educational programs at no cost to clients. Vitae Clinic is a private practice offering gynecology services including routine exams, bioidentical hormone (BioTE) replacement therapy, NaProTechnology, Creighton Model training, preconception care, routine and highrisk prenatal care, and abortion-pill reversal.

Fair said that one of the key challenges he faces in Austin, perhaps the most liberal city in Texas, is the education of young people on human sexuality.

The city government “constantly seeks ways to circumvent pro-life Gov. Greg Abbott’s legislation to prohibit funding abortion services,” he said, and recently voted to subsidize transportation for abortion services.

“In our school system, they consulted with Planned Parenthood to build and implement a curriculum promoting homosexuality, oral sex, all forms of contraceptives, and abortion,” Fair said. Not surprisingly, “We often later see these young adults in our center as they face an unexpected pregnancy.”

Nevertheless, there are strong pro-life figures and organizations also active in the Austin area and statewide. The new Vitae Family Planning Curriculum (VFPC) for resident physicians enhances the city’s pro-life portfolio.

“The Ascension Seton Medical Residency Program and UT Dell Medical School admit a total of five residents per year, and we believe we could accommodate up to four residents at any given time,” Fair said. “We are working to better promote our program within the medical school as the interview and selection processes are initiated.”