The war for women

Texas Legates Tim and Pat Von Dohlen have established the ethical answer to abortion giant Planned Parenthood

Tim and Pat Von Dohlen, members of Legatus’ Austin Chapter, founded the St. John Paul II Life Center and Vitae Clinic five years ago (Arlen Nydam photo)

In a city often called “a blueberry in the tomato soup of Texas,” Legates Tim and Pat Von Dohlen are pro-life pioneers, blazing new trails in the effort to save lives.

Five years ago, they helped establish the St. John Paul II Life Center and Vitae Clinic in Austin — a city ranked as the most liberal in the bright red state of Texas and as America’s 14th most liberal, according to an American Political Science Review study.

Undaunted by that distinction, the Von Dohlens and other Austin pro-life advocates opened a cutting-edge facility in 2010 that offers a Catholic obstetrics and gynecology practice, help for women with unexpected pregnancies, plus classes in breastfeeding, birthing, newborn care, infant safety, chastity and abstinence, and Natural Family Planning.

Inspired and Catholic

Since opening its doors five years ago in a seven-story medical office building, the Vitae Clinic has treated nearly 3,000 patients with more than 500 deliveries. Among clients with unexpected pregnancies, fewer than 5% have chosen abortion.

Right next door, the St. John Paul II Life Center has seen more than 300 clients with unexpected pregnancies this year alone.

The idea for the center and clinic started with Pat Von Dohlen years ago. It emerged again in 2005 as her husband Tim was reflecting on John Paul’s life and death earlier that year. He was reflecting on a statement the Pope had made in Detroit in 1987: “America, you are beautiful … and blessed. The ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenseless.”

Dr. Jeremy Kalmarides attends to a patient at the Vitae Center in Austin

“I felt challenged,” Tim said. “I had to do something.”

A year after meeting with a group of pro-life leaders who agreed to take on the challenge, the Von Dohlens began working with their friends, Chris and Sheri Danze, on what would become the St. John Paul II Life Center.

From the start, they envisioned a place that went beyond pregnancy testing and support for women with unexpected pregnancies to offer a full-service obstetrics-gynecology practice with a doctor onsite, plus educational programs.

They also wanted to incorporate NaPro (Natural Procreative) Technology, a science that monitors a woman’s reproductive and gynecological health, into the center so that women with infertility issues could get help consistent with Catholic teaching. Developed by Dr. Thomas Hilgers, NaPro uses methods that cooperate with a woman’s reproductive system.

Woman-focused mission

The Von Dohlens and Danzes initially hoped to offer services at a Catholic hospital, but later decided to form a separate nonprofit health care corporation, which would allow them to hire a doctor.

With the help of Hilgers, founder of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction, and the group One More Soul, they were able to hire Dr. Jeremy Kalamarides, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, as medical director.

Kimberly Speirs

“Our mission, in a positive way, kind of parallels Planned Parenthood,” said Kimberly Guidry Speirs, the St. John Paul II Life Center’s executive director. Although both organizations offer education and assist women facing unexpected pregnancies, the JPII Center does not do abortions or sterilizations, nor does it prescribe contraception.

Furthermore, Speirs said, the Center, through the Vitae Clinic and NaPro Technology, helps women achieve pregnancy, deliver babies and receive gynecological care.

“The medical science of NaPro Technology is truly the answer to women’s health,” said Pat Von Dohlen, a convert to Catholicism. “It’s natural and it’s the way our bodies were made.”

Through NaPro treatment at the Vitae Clinic, Laura Blahuta of Hallettsville, Texas, was able to give birth to a son last year. Blahuta had been advised by a priest to find a doctor trained in NaPro Technology after another physician had recommended artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, both of which conflict with Church teaching.

Following hormonal testing, charting of her cycles, and a surgical procedure at Vitae, she and her husband Carl were able to conceive. The Blahutas have since referred five other couples to the clinic.

“You never feel rushed at Vitae, and no question is ever a dumb question,” Blahuta said. “They just truly care.”

Pro-life journey

Carl and Laura Blahuta struggled with infertility, but were able to achieve natural pregnancy thanks to the Vitae Clinic. Their son Peyton is now 18 months old.

Father Albert Laforet, chaplain of Legatus’ Austin Chapter and rector of St. Mary Cathedral, frequently refers people to the Vitae Clinic for fertility concerns or pregnancy care. He makes literature about the Life Center available at the cathedral, and often recommends its natural family planning classes.

John Paul II is an appropriate patron for the center because of his advocacy for life and marriage, Fr. Laforet said.

“At his general audiences, he would always bless the newly married couples individually,” he said. “It was a huge gesture because you just don’t get a one-on-one with the Holy Father, but he made painstakingly clear that this was what he wanted.”

For the Von Dohlens, involvement with the center is a natural extension of a longtime commitment to the pro-life movement, which grew out of Pat’s desire to help pregnant women. Tim, too, as a state legislator in the 1970s, fought for passage of a bill that would have limited the adverse impact of Roe v. Wade, the devastating 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

“That started me on my journey of pro-life activities and I’ve been involved ever since,” he said.

When he and Pat married almost 10 years ago after losing their former spouses, they agreed that, to sustain their marriage, whatever activities they pursued would be shared.

Their hope is to see their model — both the Life Center and Vitae Clinic — replicated in other places. So far, groups in Michigan, Colorado, Texas and New York have expressed an interest in their model.

Research on pregnancy help centers, which began more than 45 years ago by offering free pregnancy testing and diapers, indicates the time may be right for a new approach like the one employed at the St. John Paul II Life Center.

A recent Charlotte Lozier Institute report on the centers found that they could increase their effectiveness in reaching women at risk for abortion by providing free medical exams, medical advice and free diagnostics such as ultrasound. According to the report, “the free pregnancy test is not central to the appeal of PHCs today; more variety and value of free services are needed.”

JUDY ROBERTS is a Legatus magazine staff writer.

Learn more:
jpiilifecenter.org and VitaeAustin.com