How Pro-life Brianna Wynne, MD is Making a Difference
By Theresa Giacalone, updated Oct. 2021
Our two families became fast friends twenty years ago after meeting in the halls of something called Thursday School in Holland, Michigan. Thursday School was a one-day-per week learning co-op for homeschool students where five elementary-level subjects were taught, then a week’s worth of homework was assigned till they met again. At Thursday school, we came to expect the quality, faith-based academics, but what no one anticipated was the strong friendships that would be forged.
Fast forward a mere two decades, and it’s June 19th. We’ve been invited to the virtual graduation (due to Covid) of our dear friends’ eldest daughter whose residency in gerontology will be officially commencing. There were six students in all who had helped build the program from the ground up at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. But Brianna was “our” graduate. Her mom, two uncles, two of her three sisters, and our family all sat in the physical living room excited for the virtual waiting room to open on the Zoom call so Brianna and her five colleagues could finally wrap up the educational aspect of their careers.
As often happens when approaching a major milestone, we review the landscape of all that led up to the present moment. Included in that view was the empty spaces of those who were missing. Twenty years brings many changes, and our two families had endured some of the big ones, like the loss of both husbands/fathers to cancer. Brianna’s high school graduation (from homeschool) was, in fact, the last one my husband would attend. He sat there that morning in May, overcome with emotion, knowing he would likely never witness his own children’s graduations due to the eventual outcome of his battle with a brain tumor. The depth of emotion that day is hard for me to shake even now. Brianna’s father, Fred, would miss her baby sister’s high school graduation while hospitalized, fighting a literal one-in-a-million rare form of liver cancer. His battle ended a few weeks later. And since then, there have been at least thirteen celebrations of our collective ten kids’ education journeys.
All of this flashed through my mind on the ten-mile trip to their home last month. And pro-life topics were on the forefront since most of my day had been spent composing the Tri-Cities Right to Life newsletter. I easily recalled just how involved in pro-life activities Brianna had been. For example, she was one of seven selected for the 2013 Medical Students for Life Fellowship from applicants across the nation.
The announcement read:
“Each fellow will participate in a five-week training by some of America’s leading bioethicists, clinicians, researchers, health economists, and legal experts. Their fellowship will commence on June 16th when they will participate in a week-long intense medical ethics seminar at Princeton University. After their seminar is complete, they will begin work on a medical ethics research project where they will prepare manuscripts and submit their work to journals. During the practicum portion of their fellowship, they will extern with a physician in their field and volunteer their time at a medical pregnancy resource center. We are very pleased to present the next generation of pro-life doctors and leaders.”
Very impressive! It had been a few years since her fellowship, so I wanted an update. I wondered how much she had been able to exercise her love for life in her last several years as an M.D., and during her residency program in Wisconsin. It didn’t take long to find out.
When we entered her family’s home, Brianna was there on the couch, laptop in position, calmly troubleshooting sharing the Zoom link with her grandmother in Georgia, among others (because grandma, with pride in her granddaughter overflowing, had apparently invited many of her own friends). My friend, Michelle, the graduate’s mother, was smiling and recounting how blessed her daughter had been to be in the position that she was in to help so many people. She turned over the telling of just one of many stories to the doctor herself; and there it was—the answer to my question that hadn’t, at that point, even been asked.
In Brianna’s voice, it went like this: “I am really so blessed to have had the chance recently to minister to a young woman and her mom. They came in for a checkup and disclosed that the girl was pregnant. I recommended a clinical pregnancy test then explained how I am legally obligated to tell them about both options… but gently added that I would never personally perform an abortion. And I kept referring to her unborn baby as a “baby”—using that word intentionally. I added how honored I would be to be able to care for her as an OB/GYN if they decide to give birth.” I sat there in amazement at her wide smile, the sparkle in her eyes, and her humble yet self-assured way of relaying her experience. She continued, “They left that day not indicating which way they were leaning, so all I could do was pray. A few days later, I decided to just go ahead and pray with gratitude, believing in faith that the next appointment that I saw on the schedule for this young woman would be for an OB/GYN prenatal appointment.” [Okay, let’s admit right now, that the kind of faith it takes to pray in full confidence, displayed in that moment right in front of me, is really rare. But back to the story…]
Her already full smile got impossibly fuller with, “And I was so happy when there they were—at their next appointment—not for post-abortion follow-up, but for prenatal care!” The young patient and her mom told Brianna that they had been considering abortion until they talked to her. After that, they felt that they could go through with the pregnancy. That they could do it— and would be keeping the baby.
As I sat there reveling in the great news while she recounted the story, it hit me that her mile-wide smile—and her eyes that lit up with pure joy were so endearing that I wondered how anyone could escape an interaction with her feeling anything but hopeful. The questions in my head went something like this: Was it really so simple? If we present the truth with joy, will it be so attractive that people of good will cannot help but follow God’s path and pursue Life?! And when we pro-lifers show up over and over, all we need to do is be sure to bring both truth and joy? Seems simple enough. When we’re painfully honest, though, we know it’s ‘easier said than done’.
I was inspired to see how my very simple question, formulated on the way to the party, was answered without prompting, and how this young woman in her late twenties, who I had watched grow up, was so simply and confidently turning her medical care into a ministry.
My final question was whether I could share her story and put her picture on the cover of our newsletter. Her answer is why you’re reading this now.
How much inspiration can you take in one day?!? If you’ve had your fill, then consider this an encouragement—encouragement that in the world right now, there’s still an abundance of good news, and that our pro-life job can be boiled down to just two things: truth plus joy.
Be encouraged.
Since this story was posted, Brianna has moved to Winter Park, Florida where she secured her first choice for post-residency employment. She is now a family practice physician with Advent Health Network of Orlando where she will be working with the elderly, one of her life-long passions.
UPDATE, late 2021: We were delighted that Brianna could attend my son’s wedding in August. She said she wouldn’t have missed it. She also said she had a story to share with me about the story I had written about her. My interest was piqued. While she was meeting prospective roommates in Florida, one said she had been researching Brianna online (like a good doctor would), and she had come upon this article. After reading it, the prospective roomie said it completely undid the stereotypes she had kept regarding pro-lifers. She once thought we were narrow-minded and rigid; but the way this was written and Brianna’s “Do No Harm” approach absolutely changed her. It also made it possible for them to become roommates. Then there it was: Bri’s mile-wide smile and the radiating JOY that always accompanies it.
This full-circle moment was, for me, a Godsend. Our reach extends far and wide, my friends! Never underestimate that.