Our annual Educational Dessert took place on Thursday, May 3rd at the Clovis Veterans Memorial Building. Our lineup of speakers included our Executive Director John Gerardi; local fertility expert Dr. Lynn Kennan; and our keynote, the founder of the Obria Medical Group, Kathleen Eaton Bravo.
Dr. Keenan spoke on women’s health and natural family planning, explaining the healthcare resources available for women in the Valley from her practice and that of Right to Life board member, Dr. Amie Holmes.
Our keynote speaker, Kathleen Eaton Bravo followed with a riveting speech about her life, her struggles, and how she became the CEO and Founder of the National Obria Group.
Our Executive Director John Gerardi MC’d throughout the night and reminded us that the pro-choice movement is aggressively moving towards more assertive ways to reach young women.
Dr. Keenan went through the process of explaining the female reproductive system, and offered different methods of learning how women can chart their own cycle. She also gave detailed descriptions of scientific studies on contraceptive methods and the dangerous health risks they cause women. For example 44 percent of young women who go on to take the pill will have an increase risk of breast cancer.
Keenan also referenced a study in which the birth control pill was tested in an environmental setting where a group of minnows in a pond all died.
“A tiny dosage is very potent,” Keenan said.
Keenan suggested that a more natural method of family planning could be an enormous benefit for families, and would ultimately cause less harm to the women and the environment.
“Let’s have women be experts in their bodies and know that you don’t have to be modified to be loved,” Keenan said.
To finish out the evening keynote speaker Kathleen Eaton Bravo took the stage, and applauded the work Dr. Keenan has done on natural family planning.
Bravo runs the national Obria organization, which provides support to their clinics all over the country, and talked about her mission to change the narrative on how to approach young women who might need help with unplanned pregnancies.
“We use so much energy fighting Planned Parenthood,” said Bravo. “Let’s take that energy to see what we can be for.”
She spoke of the abortion industry’s method on how they approach young women, and held out a phone for the crowd to see.
“80 percent of millenials will not call a pregnancy clinic if it’s not an app,” said Bravo.
She then posed a question and asked how we plan on reaching these young girls if they are getting prescriptions for chemical abortions in their bedrooms, over their phones. Bravo helped the audience understand how technology is allowing women to access abortion on demand.
Bravo hopes to continue on her mission of helping young women avoid crisis pregnancies. Through Obria’s commitment to technology, they are able to access women through the same telemedicine services Planned Parenthood employs to reach young women through their phones.
“I committed myself to this movement,” said Bravo. “ When God wants to use you, he will use you.”