The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame will present the 2022 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal to Dr. John T. Bruchalski, founder of Tepeyac OB/GYN, one of the largest pro-life clinics in the nation, at a celebration on April 23.
"Dr. Bruchalski is a shining example of the Church's untiring commitment to directly serving mothers, children and families," said O. Carter Snead, director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture. "His personal conversion story is a compelling example of the power of God's grace to transform hearts, and his visionary work at Tepeyac OB/GYN over the past 27 years is an invitation to each of us to employ our talents in service to building a civilization of life and love."
"Dr. Bruchalski's lifetime of dedication to providing pro-life care for vulnerable women and children — especially those in poverty — reflects Pope Francis’ injunction to care for the least among us (born and unborn) and to resist a throwaway culture," said University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. "I thank Dr. Bruchalski for his inspiring example of service to women, families and the Gospel of Life."
Bruchalski began his career in obstetrics and gynecology in 1987, practicing the full range of reproductive medicine, including sterilizations, artificial reproduction, embryo destruction and late-term abortions. Bruchalski experienced a profound conversion following a live birth during a late-term abortion procedure and thereafter resolved to practice exclusively pro-life medicine that supported women, children and their families.
In 1994, Bruchalski and his wife, Carolyn, began Tepeyac Family Center (now Tepeyac OB/GYN), providing direct care for patients regardless of their ability to pay, including fertility counseling, natural family planning and support for families that have received an adverse prenatal diagnosis for their child.
In 2000, Bruchalski established Divine Mercy Care, a nonprofit umbrella organization to support Tepeyac OB/GYN's uninsured patients, to educate and form the next generation of pro-life medical practitioners, and to unify the pro-life movement. Divine Mercy Care provides more than $600,000 annually to underwrite pro-life care for women and families through Tepeyac OB/GYN.
The Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal, named after Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical on life issues, is the nation’s most important lifetime achievement award for heroes of the pro-life movement, honoring individuals whose efforts have served to proclaim the Gospel of Life by steadfastly affirming and defending the sanctity of human life from its earliest stages.
Previous recipients of the medal include Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel post-abortion healing ministry; the Women’s Care Center Foundation; Mother Agnes Mary Donovan and the Sisters of Life; Congressman Chris Smith, co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, and his wife, Marie Smith, director of the Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues; Supreme Knight Carl Anderson and the Knights of Columbus; the Little Sisters of the Poor; the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation; and Mary Ann Glendon, professor of law at Harvard Law School.
Announced annually on Respect Life Sunday, the first Sunday of October, the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae award consists of a specially commissioned medal and $10,000 prize, to be presented at a Mass and banquet. For more information about the Evangelium Vitae Medal, visit ethicscenter.nd.edu/ev2022.
The de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture is the leading center for scholarly reflection within the Catholic moral and intellectual tradition. The center is committed to sharing the richness of this tradition through teaching, research and dialogue, at the highest level and across a range of disciplines.
Originally published by at ethicscenter.nd.edu on Oct. 3.