Three women honored by US bishops' 'People of Life' award

Washington D.C., Aug 5, 2013 / 23:09 pm

Three leaders from diverse fields in the pro-life movement were recognized for their contributions to the movement, receiving the 2013 People of Life Award for their lifelong dedication.

Frances X. Hogan, Sister Jane Marie Klein, and Barbara Thorp received the award Aug. 4 at the Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference, sponsored by the U.S. bishops' Secretariat on Pro-Life Activities.

The awards were presented by Cardinal Sean O'Malley, archbishop of Boston.

Cardinal O'Malley also serves as chair of the bishops' conference's pro-life committee.

The award, given annually since 2007, is given to persons who demonstrate Blessed John Paul II's call in his letter "Evangelium Vitae" for the faithful to be "people of life and for life."

One of this year's recipients, Frances Hogan, has upheld the dignity of life through her work as a lawyer and advocate against euthanasia. Hogan is a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life and is a co-founder of Women Affirming Life, a group of Catholic women who displace the dignity of all human life in their careers, personal lives, and communities.

She has also been a board member and consultant for various pro-life organizations, including the Pro-Life Legal Defense Fund, the Value of Life Committee, and the U.S. bishops' pro-life committee.

In 2012, Hogan also helped to guide the Massachusetts Catholic Conference in its defeat of the 2012 ballot initiative to allow physician-assisted suicide.

Sr. Jane Marie Klein, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, was recognized for her health care work and her advocacy for conscience protections. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Franciscan Alliance, a group of Catholic hospitals and health care facilities in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, and has previously served as the group's president.

Sr. Klein has also spoken on the importance of conscience protections, most notably during her March 2013 presentation on Capitol Hill on the Health Care Conscience Rights Act, during a press conference on the legislation's introduction.

Barbara Thorp has worked in social work and pro-life advocacy in the Boston area and with the Archdiocese of Boston for 35 years. With the archdiocese, she helped to start and direct Project Rachel, a post-abortion healing ministry, and aided pregnant women in crisis situations by managing the Cardinal's Fund for the Unborn.

Thorp has also worked on developing end-of-life information for parishes in the Boston area, and helped organize counseling and support for students and staff at The Newman School in Boston in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings in April.