Sister of Social Service Paula Vandegaer, who has dedicated more than 25 years to the pro-life movement, is commonly introduced to audiences as a pro-life activist.

And while that’s an accurate description of her work, what Sister Vandegaer is about is respecting humanity.

She is the founder and executive director of International Life Services, the Scholl Institute of Bioethics and Volunteers for Life organizations. A licensed clinical social worker, she has worked with families, teens, street gangs and the elderly.

She was in Sacramento Nov. 9 as the keynote speaker at the “Salute to Life” dinner to benefit the Sacramento Life Center.

During an interview with The Catholic Herald, Sister Vandegaer said the Catholic Church’s use of the phrase, “respect for life,” is “very wise.”

“We have a consistent ethic that applies to everything—world hunger, economic justice, abortion and euthanasia,” she noted.

Sister of Social Service Paula Vandegaer said the pro-life movement, while “doing very quiet things,” is accomplishing much on a range of life issues. She is the founder and executive director of International Life Services, based in Los Angeles. Nancy Westlund/Herald photo

At the beginning of a new century, Sister Vandegaer sees ample reason for optimism among those in the pro-life movement.

“I think of us as a bunch of little termites and there are so many of us,” she said. “We just keep eating away at the structure and eventually the structure is just going to collapse.”

Sister Vandegaer’s interest in pro-life work and ministry began at Holy Family Services adoption agency in Los Angeles where she worked as a counselor in the early 1970s. She viewed the legalization of abortion in California in 1967 as linked irretrievably with the victimization of women. But it was an experience with a pregnant woman who came to her for counseling that made her sit up and take notice.

The woman, who had planned to place her baby for adoption, had been challenged by a social worker who questioned the wisdom of this choice.

“She was feeling bad because she was an unwed mother and now she had to feel bad because she had this strange idea she shouldn’t have an abortion,” Sister Vandegaer recalled.

She realized that women like her client were being pressured into having abortions and were not being given a chance to make an informed decision.

“Most people are upset about the baby and I’m upset about the baby. But what I’m really upset about is what’s happening to women. That’s what charges me,” Sister Vandegaer said.

With her own counseling services office within walking distance of six abortion clinics in Los Angeles, two of which perform partial-birth abortions, Sister Vandegaer regularly encounters pro-choice advocates. In response, she emphasizes the importance of the pro-life movement exemplifying healing and compassion.

“With regard to our relationship with our opponents, we have two different techniques of bringing about women’s liberation,” she noted. “Those who choose to separate themselves by not respecting life, by killing and bombing, are not associated with the movement.”

She added that pro-life organizations such as the Sacramento Life Center are making a major impact in bringing about social change by promoting life issues.

“God must be very pleased with the Sacramento Life Center,” she said, noting that 3,500 pro-life centers are now serving 1.5 million women nationwide.

Another pro-life program making a difference, she said, is Project Rachel, a nationwide ministry founded to help men and women with post-abortion healing and reconciliation.

“Project Rachel is making a huge impact and the women who have had abortions are making a huge impact,” Sister Vandegaer said.

She also praised chastity programs like the Sacramento Diocese’s Teen Chastity Workshop, for encouraging sexual abstinence leading to a reduction in teenage pregnancy and sexual activity.

She said the pro-life movement, while “doing very quiet things,” is accomplishing much on a range of life issues like euthanasia by forming coalitions with groups representing the Hispanic and black communities.

Future challenges in promoting a respect for life, she said, include addressing moral questions that surround cloning, genetic engineering and new reproductive technologies.

“We’ve got to make sure we don’t make decisions on just a problematic basis,” Sister Vandegaer said. “Genetic engineering can be moral and very amoral. Our thinkers must keep trying to stay ahead of the curve.”

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