Dana Point, Calif., Resident and Founder of Growing Pro-life Organization Honored Today for a Lifetime of Pro-life Service, Including Birth Choice's Recent Expansion into Los Angeles County
Kathleen Eaton, founder of Birth Choice Health Clinics, the faith-based, pro-life organization that provides free medical services and education to young women facing unwanted pregnancies, today received the 2010 Cardinal John J. O' Connor Pro-Life Award, given annually by Legatus of Ave Maria, Fla., for distinguished achievement in service to the pro-life effort.
Considered one of the most prestigious pro-life honors, the Cardinal O'Connor Award is also being presented to President George W. Bush and Cardinal Francis George, the eighth archbishop of Chicago and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. All three honorees receive the award in person today at the 2010 Legatus Annual Summit at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, Calif.
Legatus is a network of Catholic business leaders spanning more than 70 chapters and approximately 4,000 members worldwide. Eaton has been a member of Legatus' Orange Coast Chapter since 2007.
Eaton, a resident of Dana Point, Calif., is being honored for a lifetime of pro-life service, most notably as the founder and CEO of Birth Choice Health Clinics, one of the country's most visible and fastest growing groups of fully licensed, pro-life community care clinics. The goal of the Santa Ana, Calif.-based nonprofit organization is to provide tangible support – in the form of pregnancy tests, ultrasound services, STD testing and treatment, limited prenatal support, education and transitional housing – to those facing an unplanned pregnancy, and to begin a discussion about abortion alternatives.
Most recently, Eaton spearheaded the October 2009 opening of Birth Choice's fifth – and first Los Angeles County – health clinic in Long Beach, which joined existing Birth Choice health clinics in Placentia, Santa Ana, Irvine and Mission Viejo. Collectively, these five clinics were responsible for more than 11,066 patient visits in 2009. During this time, enrollment in all Birth Choice parenting classes grew 108 percent, and Birth Choice volunteers served 6,139 hours.
Since its beginnings in 1981 as the Crisis Pregnancy Center, Birth Choice has attracted more than 50,000 women seeking ultrasounds, medical consultations, pregnancy and STD testing, education, family support or counseling.
Services offered at Birth Choice Health Clinics range from free pregnancy testing and ultrasounds to new-parenting classes and mentoring, abstinence education and post-abortion support groups for women and men. In addition, Birth Choice-operated Toby's House Shelters in Capistrano Beach, Dana Point and Mission Viejo provide a safe, supportive home for pregnant women and their children in crisis in the form of vocational and spiritual counseling, education, prayer and a life-based value system. A separate Toby's Annex thrift store in San Clemente benefits the shelters and clinics.
In its quest to meet the needs of more of the underserved population throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties, Birth Choice will launch its first mobile clinic in summer 2010. The new unit will represent only the eighth mobile pregnancy clinic in the country.
"Birth Choice's goal is to meet each woman where she is, and to listen, provide medical services and discuss the life-giving options that are possible," said Eaton. "The Cardinal John J. O' Conner Pro-Life Award brings more attention to Birth Choice, which ultimately helps us help more young women and men face their circumstances and answer their questions about their sexual activity, choices and options for the future."
Other speakers and presenters at the 2010 Legatus Annual Summit include Archbishop Timothy Dolan, actress Patricia Heaton, entrepreneur Frank J. Hanna III, Father Robert Spitzer SJ, Newt and Callista Gingrich, and Thomas Donahue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Previous recipients of the Cardinal John J. O'Connor Pro-Life Award have included Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life, Father Thomas Euteneuer of Human Life International, Judie Brown of the American Life League, Sen. Rick Santorum, Sen. Sam Brownback, and Rep. Henry Hyde.
About Birth Choice Health Clinics
Santa Ana, Calif.-based Birth Choice Health Clinics is committed to providing pregnancy tests, ultrasound services, STD testing and treatment, limited prenatal support, education and transitional housing to women facing an unplanned pregnancy, and to begin a discussion about abortion alternatives.
Services offered at Birth Choice clinics in Placentia, Santa Ana, Irvine, Mission Viejo and Long Beach range from free pregnancy testing and ultrasounds to new-parenting classes, abstinence education through their Teen Integrity program and post-abortion support groups for women and men. Birth Choice-operated Toby's House Shelters in Capistrano Beach and Mission Viejo provide a safe, supportive home for pregnant women and their children in crisis in the form of vocational and spiritual counseling, education, prayer and a life-based value system. For more information, visit www.birthchoiceoc.com or call (800) 631-6254.
About Legatus
Legatus is an international organization of practicing Catholic laymen and laywomen, composed of CEOs, presidents, and managing partners, with their spouses, from the business community and professional enterprises. For more information, visit www.legatus.org.
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