The reason for the Q&A with Doerflinger was the inaugural Life Prizes, a program inaugurated on Friday night in Washington, seeking to encourage pro-life activism and activists. Ray Ruddy, president of the Gerard Health Foundation, is the philanthropist behind the (life-changing and saving?) effort.

This is how Laura Ingraham introduced the Prizes in Washington, D.C., Friday:

Americans have a long history of celebrating achievement and ingenuity. We celebrate advances in science, medicine, and politics; granting awards to those who find new ways to promote the betterment of society, to end disease, to improve our way of life. It is only fitting that, in the company of these great celebrations, there is an award to honor advances in protecting that first right that gives all others meaning, the right to life.
You are here because you believe as we do that saving human lives is a calling of unsurpassed importance – especially today, especially in a culture which in so many ways is increasingly hostile to the weak, the vulnerable, to those without a voice.
You are here because powerful forces in our culture are fighting for the souls of the next generation. A group called Choice USA recently announced the winners of its “Generation Awards,” giving a prize to one young winner for promoting abortion on her website and writing a book called Hooking Up: A Girl’s All-out Guide to Sex and Sexuality.
Ours is a different vision. Life Prizes honors outstanding efforts to awaken the conscience of America to the dignity and value of every human life, and through this celebration to encourage and inspire the next generation to accomplish great things for the cause of life.
We are here tonight because of the vision and generosity of two people: Raymond and Marilyn Ruddy. Through their private charity, the Gerard Health Foundation, the Ruddys have dedicated themselves to saving lives through the support of pro-life initiatives throughout the world, including HIV/AIDS prevention, pregnancy resource centers, pro-life and abstinence education, and judicial reform.
Life Prizes is their latest and perhaps greatest initiative, and this inaugural year the prizes are dedicated to the memory of Norinne A. and Raymond E. Ruddy, parents of Raymond B. Ruddy who were strong believers of the pro-life cause.