Health care conference addresses current topics

By Allison LeDoux
Director, Worcester Diocesan Respect Life Office

Abortion pill reversal and sexual identity were among topics addressed at a recent conference that drew medical professionals from many states.
The 18th annual Medicine, Bioethics, and Spirituality Conference organized by Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy was held June 7 to 9 at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge.
For many years the conference was held in Worcester and drew hundreds of attendees from all over the country. Since 2020 it has been held in a downsized format as a virtual event. Participants eagerly embraced the return of the in-person gathering.
This year’s conference opened with Mass, followed by a presentation called “The Moral Virtue of Fortitude: Essential for Healthcare Professionals” by Father Kazimierz Chwalek of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, who run the Divine Mercy shrine.
Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy is an apostolate of the Marian Fathers. It was founded by Marie Romagnano, a nurse specializing in catastrophic injuries, who is assistant clinical professor at Our Lady of the Elms College School of Nursing. She is an organizer of the conference, which brings medical professionals together to learn about the integration of faith and medicine and to be spiritually nourished to bring the healing love of Christ into their professions. At the conference, speakers shared their expertise and Father Chwalek led a retreat.
Dr. George Delgado, a medical doctor and innovator of the abortion pill reversal protocol, offered two presentations: “Fortitude in Action: Bringing Abortion Pill Reversal to Those Seeking a Second Chance” and “Post-Roe Threats to the Health of Women and Pre-born Babies.”
Dr. Delgado noted that more than 60 percent of abortions today are chemical. These abortions are very dangerous and traumatic for women, often causing severe hemorrhaging and even death.
The abortion pill regimen involves two drugs: the first pill, mifepristone, kills the baby, and the second drug, misoprostol, induces contractions to expel the child. Abortion pill reversal, however, has seen much success for mothers who change their mind after taking the first drug. If progesterone is administered within a certain time window, it is possible in many cases to reverse the mifepristone effects and save the baby.
Dr. Delgado explained that the hormone progesterone is needed to maintain pregnancy, promote placenta development, and inhibit uterine contractions. Since use of the abortion pill reversal protocol began, more than 4,500 babies slated for abortion have been born.
Addressing another current need, Assumption University theology professor Christopher Klofft spoke about “The Anthropology of Gender: God’s Revelation and Contemporary Challenges.”
Professor Klofft approached this difficult topic in a way that engaged his audience, by presenting with clarity the truth about the human person. He covered aspects of biology, philosophy, theology, and spirituality that are part of an authentic Christian anthropology.
He began with an overview of the “basic” principles about what it means to be made in the image of God. Because we are created with the ability to think and to choose, we can make the choice to love, which is “the thing that makes us most like God,” he said.
He said the image of God is also physical – God takes on human form in the Incarnation. Human beings exist in male or female bodies and “we can only engage reality as a man or as a woman,” he noted. “It is biologically demonstrable.”
He said “no one had a problem with this for several thousand years,” but now, with the false belief that there are more than two genders, we are suffering from “a crisis of rationality.”
 Distinguishing gender dysphoria from transgenderism is a complex and sensitive issue that must be addressed with honesty and compassion for those who are suffering, Professor Klofft said. He used the example of people who suffer from anorexia – we don’t affirm them as if their eating disorder is good for them; we help them understand their body image properly so that they can become happy and healthy.
Professor Klofft said healthcare professionals face moral and pastoral challenges when it comes to caring for patients who are experiencing the negative effects of irreversible surgical procedures, and the social consequences of confusion about identity and relationships. Prayer is essential for helping further conform oneself to Christ, who gives the spiritual reserves to face these challenges with love, he said.
Dr. Paul Hruz, associate professor of pediatrics, cell biology, and physiology at Washington University St. Louis School of Medicine, also spoke about this challenge. His talks were: “Medical Approaches to Alleviate Suffering from Gender Dysphoria: Scientific Evidence and Outcomes” and “Sexual Identity: Speaking Truth with Love to Our Patients.”
He noted that while this is a relatively new arena, and more rigorous scientific studies are needed, the basic biological reality of being male or female is steadfast. Gender dysphoria is an area that includes many comorbidities and must elicit a compassionate response rooted in a sound anthropology to help patients who are crying out for help to live lives of authentic human flourishing, he said. His advice to healthcare professionals included maintaining the truth about human biology and lovingly accompanying patients who are suffering. He recommended St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris (On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering).
Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy, originally called Nurses for Divine Mercy, was organized in response to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Preparing to head to New York, the nurses were informed by the Red Cross that their services would not be needed since there were so few survivors. The nurses realized that although the victims could not be helped medically, they could be helped spiritually, and began praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the dying and the survivors.
Ms. Romagnano published Nursing with the Hands of Jesus, a training guidebook for nurses and those in direct contact with patients in any setting involving the sick, injured, and dying. Now in its third edition, the book provides advice for how nurses can be apostles of Divine Mercy by using their hands and their hearts in caring for their patients in times of illness or injury as well as helping those who are dying make the transition to eternal life.