Sharla Cloutier recently left her job in the business world to work for the Vitae Foundation, a St. Louis–based group whose mission is to “encourage a culture of life through mass communications.” As vice president of development there, the 29-year-old works out of New York City and talks about the work of cultivating a culture of life, one woman and one pregnancy resource center at a time. (I will be delivering the opening prayer at the Vitae Foundation’s fundraising dinner in Virginia next week; Ben Carson will be the keynote speaker.) — Kathryn Jean Lopez

Kathryn Jean Lopez: How did you get involved in pro-life work?

Sharla Cloutier: I grew up in a very pro-life family and just assumed most everyone was pro-life. Then I went off to college and was confronted by those with a different point of view. When I moved to New York City to start my career after graduating from Princeton in 2007, I sought out pro-life volunteer opportunities and connected with Expectant Mother Care in the Bronx. I started praying in front of an abortion clinic and eventually began volunteering at one of EMC’s pregnancy help centers.

I heard directly from young women about their hopes and dreams, fears and challenges. I learned more about abortion procedures and risks, fetal development, and resources available to give pregnant mothers real help. I also sought out the hard facts — that more than 3,000 lives are lost to abortion in the U.S. every day; that 40 percent of all pregnancies in New York City end in abortion; that an unborn child’s heartbeat is first detected at 21 days.

Though I spent years working full-time as a business consultant, I dedicated more and more of my free time to pro-life activities, becoming the Respect Life Coordinator at my parish, serving with the Sisters of Life, including at their Love and Life Site at World Youth Day Madrid in 2011, and joining the National LIFE Runners Team a couple of years ago.

Lopez: Is there a strong pro-life presence at Princeton?

Cloutier: Yes, thankfully. Princeton Pro-Life travels to the March for Life in Washington, D.C., every year and is very blessed to have Professor Robert P. George and other pro-life professors who stand with a committed group of students in defending life. In my time there I was surrounded by highly convicted, intelligent, and articulate individuals who helped me grow in understanding and appreciation of my pro-life position. I also encountered many students with pro-choice leanings, some of whom were able to argue their stance better than others.

In 2004 a couple of classmates and I traveled to D.C. to protest the March for Women’s Reproductive Freedom, which happens maybe once every twelve years. That was quite an experience.

Lopez: You’d been doing corporate work. Why quit it to work for the Vitae Foundation?

Cloutier: First, I want to say how grateful I am for the job I recently left. I learned so much in my 6.5 years there and got to do interesting work with some really bright, hardworking, caring people. As for my transition, there are the obvious answers: I’ve built up particular skills as a business consultant that will be useful to a nonprofit, I want to serve people in this specific capacity, the timing seems right. These things are all true, but, honestly, it comes down to a higher calling. God has been preparing me to do this work my entire life, and I’ve finally gotten to a point where I feel called to do more to stop the large-scale injustice going on around me.

We are surrounded by so much destruction of innocent human life. If I could help to save just one life, this work would be worth it. But we’re not just talking about one life, we’re talking about 40+ million lives around the world every year. And that number doesn’t account for maternal deaths caused by abortion. It’s hard to wrap my head around the scale of the injustice and death, and the fact that it’s legal in many places.

Life is so beautiful; we need to be cherishing and protecting it. The Vitae Foundation is a great champion of this vision.

Lopez: What does Vitae do and what do you hope to accomplish there?

Cloutier: The Vitae Foundation promotes a culture of life through media, using research-based messaging to encourage greater respect for the value of all human life. Vitae spreads light and hope to pregnant mothers, and to society at large, through media spots across TV, radio, Internet, billboards, and print. Vitae ads are saving lives across the country, including an estimated 75,000 lives in the past 22 years.

In my new position I’m responsible for Vitae’s development along the East Coast, including working with pregnancy help centers and our generous donors. I’m excited to help bring Vitae’s life-saving ads to the places where they’re most needed.

In Los Angeles and Miami, solicitors pass out abortion coupons on street corners, and you can get a discount if you have your abortion on a Sunday. Here in New York City, there are multiple abortion clinics that perform upwards of 10,000 abortions a year. We live in a world where some people refer to a baby resulting from an unplanned pregnancy as a “punishment.” The real punishment is for women who have been sold on abortion as a “reproductive right,” only to suffer mentally and emotionally for years afterward. Meanwhile, moms who are courageous enough to choose life in difficult circumstances often end up seeing their children as the best thing that ever happened to them. I hope that one day abortion will be unthinkable, and we’ll welcome every human life as a gift from God.

Lopez: What’s the single-most important experience you’ve had working at pregnancy help centers and with moms in some kind of need?

Cloutier: When faced with an unplanned pregnancy, mothers feel incredibly vulnerable. They share not only DNA with their unborn child but also an almost overwhelming vulnerability. Life seems very uncertain for the both of them, and it is only in driving out fear and building up trust that love and life can grow. Even more than the material assistance pregnancy help centers provide, it is genuine care and emotional support that pregnant mothers need most. We need to love them, listen to them, and walk with them on their journey. I’m inspired by those who have dedicated their lives to being this first line of support for women in need.

Lopez: What’s LIFE Running? What’s the point of it?

Cloutier: The National LIFE Runners team is the world’s largest pro-life running/walking group. We pray, fundraise, and run or walk to end abortion, with more than 2,500 team members, ages 1 to 88, in all 50 states and in 17 countries. We are “All in Christ for Pro-Life!” The only requirement is to wear your bright blue “REMEMBER the Unborn” jersey.

Lopez: Pope Francis recently canonized two popes, whose feast days are both this month. John Paul II is probably best associated with peace, for helping end Soviet Communism, and for his “Gospel of Life.” As a young Catholic, is any of this significant for you?

Cloutier: Definitely! I was born in 1984, so Saint John Paul II was pope for two of the three decades I’ve been alive. He did so many wonderful things throughout his lifetime and really illuminated so many aspects of our faith. I am particularly grateful for his teachings on the Eucharist, his Theology of the Body, his apostolic motto Totus Tuus (“totally yours”) in devotion to Mary, his spreading of Divine Mercy, and his establishment of World Youth Day. I have distinct memories of watching his final years on TV and the dignity he gave to human suffering. He not only preached about the value of every human life at every stage, he lived it. I also have a special affinity for JPII based on my part-Polish background, as my mom is a Bielski.

Of course, Saint John XXIII was a little before my time. In calling the Second Vatican Council, he profoundly affected the role that the Church has had in the world over the past 50 years, defending and advancing core truths of our faith. Like JPII, he was also a great defender of the dignity of every human life and peace among peoples, a true shepherd. He sounds like a saint I would like to get to know better!

Lopez: Is John Paul II’s The Gospel of Life something folks should be dusting off and rereading in the era of Francis? Headlines say he is downplaying abortion, but it seems that he’s actually just urging a holistic approach to life and the Gospels — perhaps one that is radically countercultural?

Cloutier: All human life has inherent worth. Cardinal Dolan addressed this in his response to my question during a Q&A session after the April young adult Mass at St. Patrick’s here in New York City. He said that we have infinite dignity and respect that comes from our very being. Our value isn’t based on anything we do or say, how much we have, who we know, or any other measure. How blessed are we to be so valued, just for being! Imagine the infinite love God has for each of us to have created us and called us into relationship with Him.

Abortion takes the notion that every human life has value and twists it into the dangerous belief that we can pick and choose which lives have value. A society that endorses abortion claims that if a pregnant mother wants her unborn child, she’s expecting a baby; if she doesn’t want her unborn child, this tiny boy or girl is just a clump of cells to be discarded. Given how pervasive abortion and this throw-away mentality remain in our world today, it wouldn’t hurt to revisit The Gospel of Life:

Gratitude and joy at the incomparable dignity of man impel us to share this message with everyone: “That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us” (1 Jn 1:3). We need to bring the Gospel of life to the heart of every man and woman and to make it penetrate every part of society.
This involves above all proclaiming the core of this Gospel. It is the proclamation of a living God who is close to us, who calls us to profound communion with himself and awakens in us the certain hope of eternal life. It is the affirmation of the inseparable connection between the person, his life and his bodiliness. It is the presentation of human life as a life of relationship, a gift of God, the fruit and sign of his love. It is the proclamation that Jesus has a unique relationship with every person, which enables us to see in every human face the face of Christ. It is the call for a “sincere gift of self” as the fullest way to realize our personal freedom.

And have you heard Pope Francis? He doesn’t sound like he’s downplaying the issue here:

It is must be therefore reiterated the strongest opposition to any direct attack on life, especially innocent and defenseless life, and the unborn child in the womb is the most concrete example of innocence. Let us remember the words of the Second Vatican Council: “From the moment of its conception, life must be guarded with the greatest care while abortion and infanticide are unspeakable crimes.”

Lopez: What is it like to be a young Catholic woman in New York City today? Why would you want to be Catholic? So much in the culture seems to suggest it’s a way of life for yesterday, not today.

Cloutier: Young Catholics in New York City are very blessed! We have wonderful priests, bishops, and religious leaders, and a cardinal who concerns himself with our flourishing. Of course there’s a Catholic church every couple of blocks, with abundant opportunities to receive Jesus in the Eucharist every day of the week. We have so many young-adult groups, there are often too many events to choose from: bible studies, dinners, fellowship, talks, adoration, hikes, retreats, volunteer opportunities, concerts; the list goes on and on. And the young adults themselves are fabulous, desiring to grow in holiness and community.

For me there’s nothing better than knowing I’m loved by God, and being able to love and serve Him and His people every day. It’s a way of life not for yesterday, not for today, but for always! Despite the sometimes hectic nature of the city, I can rest easy in God’s love for me and His plan for my life.

Lopez: In the wake of the Hobby Lobby religious-freedom and Massachusetts buffer-zone cases this past Supreme Court term, and given the approach of the midterm elections, we are hearing “war on women” rhetoric dusted off. Is it really a “war on women” to move to restrict abortion or to help women find alternatives to abortion?

Cloutier: I can appreciate the alliteration of “war on women,” but that’s about it. It’s such an overused phrase, and it means such different things to different people: There are those who feel as though their sexual liberty is being infringed on, who want to “keep bosses out of the bedroom”; those who see their religious freedom being threatened, who don’t want to pay for contraception and abortion; those estimated 10,000 female babies in China who die each day due to the country’s one-child policy and sex-selective abortion.

Women desire and deserve authentic love and freedom, and framing women’s issues in terms of a battleground is not the way to achieve these goods. We can’t pit women against the government (or their employers/employees), women against women, or women against their own children. Instead, we need to be focusing on solutions that uphold the dignity of all people, where no individual is devalued or abused for the sake of another.

Pregnancy help centers promote this universal value of the individual, giving hope when a woman finds herself pregnant and feels trapped in some way. They show compassion, discuss real options, and share what other women have been through. They are driven by genuine love for each woman who walks through their door, as they operate on modest means and offer free services, in direct contrast to the profit-laden, metrics-oriented abortion industry. It’s the very opposite of a “war on women,” bringing hope, peace, and support to hundreds of thousands of women across the country each year.

Lopez: What have you learned about Vitae you wish you knew sooner since joining?

Cloutier: The Vitae Foundation uses research-based messaging that really speaks to women facing an untimely pregnancy. The research we’ve done gives us a unique understanding of the thoughts and emotions a vulnerable young woman has from the moment she discovers she’s pregnant. This insight drives our media programs for pregnancy help centers and helps them reach more women via the Internet, print ads, radio spots, and more. Together, we’re saving women and children from abortion and fostering a culture that appreciates the value of every human person.

I love my job!

— Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online, and founding director of Catholic Voices USA.