Last night in Oreland, about 15 miles northwest of Center City Philadelphia, I sat in on my first board meeting for the Pro Life Union of Southeastern Pennsylvania. It’s new territory for me. Fr. Chris Walsh recruited me to bring a new perspective on executing its mission.

What is the Pro Life Union? It’s a nonprofit, founded in 1971, focused on fostering a culture of life through four tiers of activity: prayer and outreach, education, public policy, and alternative services. The Pro Life Union has been a fixture in the Delaware Valley for a long time and its most active backers tend to be older while many of its most zealous on-the-ground supporters tend to be younger.

A culture of life is the vision, which Wikipedia explains really well:

The phrase “culture of life” is a term used in discussion of moral theology, especially of the Catholic Church. Its proponents describe it as a way of life based upon the theological truth that human life at all stages from conception through natural death is sacred. As such, a “culture of life” presumably opposes practices destructive of human life, often including abortion, euthanasia, research on human embryonic stem cells, contraception, capital punishment, unjust war, sadistic humiliation, narcissism, and excessive selfishness.

While the mission of “culture of life” can obviously be extraordinarily broad for a tight-knit nonprofit like the Pro Life Union, in practice the Pro Life Union and its friends are probably most well known for:

• prayer, protest, and sidewalk counseling at abortion facilities in the city and suburbs
• lobbying efforts to frame the debate to legislators and others on critical policy issues
• support for the Philadelphia Community Women’s Center, which opened last month

I’m eager (and certainly reminded of my own profound inadequacies) in joining the board, and excited for the potential for the Pro Life Union to focus its mission. Americans are a pro-life people, but Philadelphians especially are hurting due to a lack of clear alternatives.

I’m pro-life because my attitude syncs profoundly with the entire “culture of life” framework. Abortion might be the most obvious and contentious plank, but all those issues working together is what I believe allows a culture to legitimately call itself humane. Other issues like chastity and contraception are tough. I’m less sure how those two fit in terms of public policy.

This is the start of something new for me, and I hope I can approach this with an clean conscience and transparent approach. I can’t really be effective without this being a conversation, without heart speaking to heart, and without your wisdom, perspective, and attitudes helping guide my thinking.

One bit of fruit after last night’s meeting: the launch of the Pro Life Union’s first online giving platform. We’re using Rally, a system I’m bullish on as it’s the simplest and most elegant fundraising tool I’ve seen.

I’ll be devoting at least an entry each month to my Pro Life Union experiences.