Catholic Transcript Online

Janet E. Smith. far left, stands and prays with members of Helpers of God's Precious Infants and counselors from St. Gerard's Center for Life on Nov. 21 outside of the Hartford GYN Center. (Photo by Lenora Sumsky)

BRISTOL – When word spread through the crowd at a pro-life conference that a woman in Hartford had decided against having an abortion, people were overjoyed. When news came later that the same woman reversed herself and opted for an abortion, it underscored the importance of the conference and its sponsor’s mission.

 The conference at St. Paul Catholic High School in Bristol on Nov. 21 was sponsored by St. Gerard’s Center for Life, a crisis pregnancy center in Hartford. It took place after a prayer service at St. Peter Church in Hartford and a prayer vigil attended by the conference’s keynote speaker, outside the Hartford GYN Center, which provides abortions and is across the street from St. Gerard’s.

Speaker Janet E. Smith, local members of the pro-life group Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, and counselors from the center prayed between the two facilities while some passersby in cars tooted their horns in support and some accepted rosaries that the group distributed.

The group continued its prayerful presence until the conference program began. The 100 people at the conference were overjoyed when it was announced that a woman who had planned to have an abortion that morning left the abortion facility and went to St. Gerard’s Center with a counselor instead.

Organizers learned after the conference that the same pregnant woman changed her mind again.

“It was a sad reality, very disturbing,” said Dr. Theresa Krankowski, director of St. Gerard’s Center for Life. “She had left our center and spoken with her boyfriend. He was very upset with her and angry that she didn’t go through with [the abortion]. Unfortunately, she was pressured and gave in to the pressure.”

The reported scenario played out while, at the conference, Dr. Smith talked about the Catholic Church’s teaching regarding contraception, abortion and other life issues. In two separate presentations, she provided significant research, historical perspective and statistical evidence that abortion has increased significantly since contraception became widely used and accepted.

In her first talk, titled “The Connection between Contraception, Abortion and Euthanasia,” Dr. Smith explained why the Church teaches that contraception diminishes the total giving of self that is the essence of marriage and described how contraception has altered people’s understanding of the meaning and purpose of sexuality.

Contraception is not natural and, with contraception, sex isn’t linked to life, she said.

“Sex that isn’t linked to life generally leads to death,” said Dr. Smith.

During the afternoon session, titled “The Spectacular Genesis of the Humanae Vitae,” she chronicled the history of the Church’s teaching on life issues.

She sprinkled her talk, which included scholarly references and Latin phraseology, with light, real-life examples that drew her audience into a reflection on how society accepts abortion and assisted suicide.

Dr. Smith is a professor of moral theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. She has written several books and countless articles on sexuality, contraception, and bioethics that are based on Catholic teachings.

Christopher D’Amore, a volunteer at the center who helped organize the inaugural conference, said Dr. Smith’s expertise made her an attractive speaker for the  event. “I just knew that we had to start these conferences and I also knew that we had to start them with Dr. Smith,” said Mr. D’Amore.

“This [conference] is designed to be a rallying point … so we can be able to not only defend the Church and her teachings but defend society as a whole,” he said.

Dr. Krankowski said St. Gerard’s Center strictly follows and promotes the values and Magisterium of the Church.

“When the center was founded [in 2004] we took the mission of our program from Evangelium Vitae, ‘The Gospel of Life,’ an encyclical written by Pope John Paul II in 1995,” she said.

“We are helping mothers make life-affirming decisions. We focus on the dignity of women and the dignity of motherhood,” Dr. Krankowski added.

Since St. Gerard’s Center opened its doors, according to its Web site, more than 2,200 mothers have been served and more than 350 babies have been saved from abortion.