After 49 years of service, she is still going strong
Sister Joanne Uetz
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
PHILADELPHIA — Sister Joanne Uetz has been in the convent for 49 years, and for the first half of her career she did what most Sisters of St. Joseph were doing when she entered —she taught.
In more recent years she has ministered in the social service arena, which is in keeping with the founding charism of her originally French congregation.
For the past six years, she has been an associate director at the Fox Chase-based Northeast Philadelphia chapter of Birthright, an international agency that helps give women and girls with unplanned pregnancies alternatives to abortion.
“Every mother has a right to give birth and every child has a right to be born,” Sister Joanne said, summing up the philosophy of Birthright.
The daughter of the late William and Marie (O’Connor) Uetz said her heritage is mostly Irish-American with emphasis on the American heritage. Her mother’s family had been in Philadelphia since before the Revolution.
Originally out of Most Blessed Sacrament Parish, she attended Holy Innocents School and entered the convent straight from John W. Hallahan High School.
Her teaching career was spent at Nativity B.V.M. and Visitation B.V.M. in Philadelphia as well as parish schools in Harrisburg and Baltimore, and she still does occasional substitute teaching at St. Athanasius School.
In the social justice arena, she worked with the elderly and with crime victims. Now her focus is the very youngest victims, the unborn.
“I come from a pro-life family,” she said. “I used to go with my mother to pray at abortion clinics.”
Birthright, which was founded by Canadian housewife, Louise Summerhill, in 1967, has about 500 chapters worldwide staffed mostly by volunteers. In addition to Fox Chase, there are local chapters in Bala Cynwyd, West Chester and Pottstown. Fox Chase has about 18 volunteers, all are Catholic but that’s not a requirement, Sister Joanne said.
Some of the young women who call Birthright’s hotline (most are between 18 and 25) think they are contacting an abortion clinic. In any case, it is explained to them that the agency counsels women and assists them as they carry their baby to term.
Her office fields about 400 calls per month and probably prevents at least 100 abortions a year, Sister Joanne estimates. Some callers have had an abortion already and don’t want to do it again. Some are students; a pregnancy could interrupt education plans. Some girls are being pressured into an abortion by parents or a boyfriend.
“We get people who are so poor you don’t know how they are doing it,” Sister Joanne said.
A recent newsletter cites the example of “Felicia” who went to an abortion clinic. She was studying to be a nurse, and her mother wouldn’t let her stay at home if she continued her pregnancy. She couldn’t go through with the abortion and turned to Birthright. Counselor Ruth Corbett got her all of the referrals needed, her family eventually came around and her baby was born.
Birthright relies on the assistance of a number of Catholic parishes and a few Protestant churches to fulfill its mission. One anonymous individual, “the Furniture Lady,” who is not Catholic, sends $1,000 a month, Sister Joanne noted.
“We have a wonderful staff, but we are always looking for more volunteers, especially women who know how to deal with people,” Sister Joanne said.
For the Northeast Philadelphia Chapter of Birthright, call 215-728-0385.
For the Birthright hotline, call 1-800-550-4900.
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.
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