Dr. Robert C. Lawler is a hero. He doesn’t wear a cape and leap tall buildings with a single bound, but he saves lives.
Dr. Lawler, AKA my friend Bob, is an OBGYN. And as far as I can discover, he is the only such doctor in the entire Chicago area who conducts his practice completely in compliance with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
That’s right – no birth control pills or devices, no sterilizations, no abortions.
Bob has always been a good man. But he readily admits that in the early days of his medical practice he did what virtually every other Catholic OBGYN does; he didn’t perform abortions, but he stretched the rules of the Church and rationalized in his mind that other practices were acceptable.
Over time, influenced by devout friends and priests, he concluded that he needed to align his personal beliefs and his professional practices. And he credits most of all his decision to conduct his practice by the book (the Catechism) to his wife, Paula, mom of their 11 children.
Last night, Francis Cardinal George, OMI, presented Bob with the “Crusader of the Unborn” award from the Society of St. James the Apostle.
Bob was his typical, aw-shucks-just-doing-my-job self: “It is my obligation to God…The privilege to bring life into the world.”
Dr. Lawler is based at Good Samaritan Hospital in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove. I have a feeling the original Good Samaritan and Bob would find a lot in common: Two good men.
