Many of you, our faithful supporters, know that Vitae Foundation is unique in the Pro-Life Movement. However, because our mission is so different, it can be difficult to explain what it is we do and even more difficult to explain how we do it. I’d like to try to provide an explanation that makes sense and that you can share with like-minded, life-affirming friends to help us build a culture of life. Furthermore, I’d like to share a “secret” that I hope will further inform and inspire you about the mission of Vitae.
Our mission statement says, “We facilitate lifesaving research and apply the findings to create messaging strategies to share with others so together, we can build a future where abortion is unthinkable.” Indeed, making abortion unthinkable was part of the original goal of Vitae founder, Carl Landwehr. Read more about the development of this goal and the organization here.
But what does that lengthy statement mean, practically? The answer reveals the uniqueness of Vitae. No one else in the world has consistently conducted Emotional Research studies on abortion over 30 years like we have. This valuable information has led to the creation of effective ads, messages and marketing campaigns moving individuals and the culture at large toward an openness to life with verified and proven results. Thus, we can summarize the mission in the following way:
Emotional Research plus effective pro-life messages equals a culture of life.
And here is where the secret is partially revealed: what we have realized over time is that we can multiply this good work by sharing our research with other organizations and teaching them how to create effective pro-life messages so that they, too, can build a culture of life through their own spheres of influence. The mission, thus, has become, “Emotional Research plus effective pro-life messages multiplied by other pro-life individuals/organizations equals a more robust, unified, widespread culture of life.”
While we have certainly been fruitful throughout our existence as an organization, we believe sharing our knowledge and expertise in this new way is now helping the Pro-Life Movement bear fruit 30, 60, and 100-fold (Matthew 13:23, Mark 4:8).
Out of necessity, the rest of the secret will remain hidden. Our name will not be splashed across newspapers and our logo will not appear on prominent pro-life advertisements or projects. We have become “the influencer of the influencers” (not the trendy social media influencers but the pro-life culture influencers). We work under the radar, behind the scenes, providing a subtle yet savvy way to gradually change the culture.
Organizations like Students for Life, Sidewalk Advocates for Life, Heartbeat International, Care Net, hundreds of pregnancy centers, as well as, prominent pro-life leaders (and “average Joes”) across the country increasingly deliver powerful, effective, pro-woman research-based messages. However, no one (except you!) knows that it is the research and messaging expertise of Vitae that helps save lives and promote a culture of life through effective messaging.
So now you know the secret about how we go about reaching millions of the “movable middle” in the greatest human rights issue of all time. It is a “wise-as-serpents and innocent-as-doves” approach (Matthew 10:16). It is a humble, hidden approach. It is a collaborative approach. It is an approach that unifies pro-lifers. It is an approach that is more effective in creating a culture of life (initial research and subsequent polling/evaluation tells us so). It is an approach that no one else in the world takes, and thus, it is vital that we continue to carry it out effectively and faithfully.
Did You Know?
Vitae’s Pro-Woman Approach has been used in seventeen countries around the world and by some of the largest organizations in the Pro-Life Movement
