Nicole Taylor Peck, Leticia Velasquez, Judith Mascolo, M.D., Gerard M. Nadal, Ph.D.
On Saturday I attended the 11th Annual Respect Life Conference at Holy Angels Parish in the Archdiocese of Hartford, CT. It was a great day and the photo shows some of the happy warriors present.
Nicole Taylor Peck
Nicole is the CT director of Silent No More Awareness, involved in 40 days for Life, a board member of Care Net Pregnancy Center of NECT, a frequent TV guest and an adoptive parent. Nicole is a frequent lecturer at colleges and international speaker. She and her husband are good friends and her son is a little rock star with my children.
The following two workshop presenters are both mothers of daughters with Down Syndrome. These are their bios as they appear in the program from the day.
Judith M. Mascolo, M.D.
Judith M. Mascolo, M.D. is a famly physician from West Hartford, CT. She received a B.A. in History from The College of the Holy Cross and her medical degree from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Family Medicine in St. Paul, Minnesota and spent several years in the Twin Cities working in public health clinics with Southeast Asian, African and Central American immigrants. In 1999 Dr. Mascolo returned to Connecticut to work in private practice in Bristol and Windsor before opening her own practice of Family Medicine. She is a Catholic doctor who is committed to practicing medicine in accordance with all the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Leticia Velasquez
Leticia Velasquez, a Culture of Life Writer and Speaker, has made an impact with her Culture of Life blogs on the internet, winning American Life League’s Pro-Life Blog Award in 2009. Her work has been published in the National Catholic Register, Canticle magazines, The Chicago Sun Times and the Philadelphia Standard and Times. Mrs. Velasquez has been interviewed on National Pro-Life Radio Chattin’ with Jeanine Notter on Nashua, New Hampshire’s WSMN and has been interviewed for the pro-life documentary “Silent Fall”. A frequent guest with her daughter on the “The Face of Pro-Life,” Leticia has been on the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Net TV and is a regular guest on “Among Women” Catholic podcast.
These three women are beautiful, Joyful souls, who as mothers have put their money where their pro-life mouths are through adoption and welcoming babies with Down syndrome.
I would be interested in knowing how difficult it is for women/men to practice as prolife doctors.
How does one limit their practice in such a way that they don’t prescribe bc?
What about being an emergency physician and being confronted with rape victims and the expectation of prescribing an abortifacient?
How was Dr.Mascolo able to do this in public health clinics?
Is this feasible in this day and age? If so, what suggestions would you have for young prolife people considering a career in medicine? Many of my friends are shying away from certain professions such as physicians, pharmacists etc. But if no orthodox Catholics and Christians are entering these professions, where does this leave us??
What a treat it was to meet you Gerard! Thank you for posting this on your blog. You are an inspiration to me!
Mary Catherine, I was not always a prolife doctor. For years I prescribed birth control (I learned how to while a medical student doing a rotation at a Catholic Hospital), referred women to Planned Parenthood if I detected ambivalence about their newly diagnosed pregnancies, referred women for tubal ligations and men for vasectomies and couples for IVF. I was a cradle-Catholic, but ignorant about so many of these issues in my own faith.
I worked as a physician for ten years before I had a reconversion and decided to bring my faith into my office and to practice medicine according to the teachings of the Catholic Church. The birth of my third daughter had a large influence on me. During that pregnancy, my husband and I knew she had Down syndrome. Everyone in my life seemed to have an opinion about what we should do about it, most of it not good. Even as a physician, I was dismayed at how easily people recommended abortion.
Also, as a mother of three girls, I realized that I needed to practice medicine in a way that I would expect my daughters’ physician to practice, that is to say, allow the parents to be part of the visit and respect the wishes of the parents to not discuss sexual matters with children. Or, if the parents wish me to bring this up, to discuss the risks of sexual behavior and birth control and the reasons to be abstinent.
Once I made the decision to be a Catholic doctor, I knew that I could only work for myself. So about four years ago I started my own practice and have not looked back since! I am busier than I expected. My patients know that I won’t prescribe birth control, refer for abortions, IVF or sterilizations. There are plenty of other doctors who will do that. I don’t turn away patients who are on birth control, but I certainly educate them about the risks it poses to their health and have successfully gotten many women off the Pill and successfully using Natural Family Planning. I have patients coming to me from nearby states just because I am a pro-life doctor.
I would certainly recommend any Catholic student interested in medicine, nursing, pharmacy studies or the biological studies to pursue these fields. The world needs more Catholic health care professionals who are not afraid to practice according to the Church’s teachings.
Thank you very much for your honest reply Dr. Mascolo. The reason I ask is because I too am the mother of three beautiful daughters, one of whom is very interested in pursuing a career in medicine.
I am keen to encourage her but I wonder how she will find things in med school. It takes great courage to go against the flow these days. She is currently in her first year of university in a bio-med program. Please pray for her.
And thank you for standing up for the culture of life.