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Dr. John Barkay a 'Voice for Life'
Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published October 26, 2007
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Dr. John Barkay discusses his involvement in the pro-life movement. |
Warren — Dr. John Barkay became concerned as soon as some states started weakening their anti-abortion laws in the late 1960s, and increased his efforts as the threat to life became national policy with the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
Since then, he has supported crisis pregnancy centers, done sidewalk counseling and sponsored pioneering efforts to use ultrasound images as a tool to persuade pregnant mothers to keep their babies.
At 81 and after a stroke four years ago, Barkay might not be as vigorous as he used to be, but he has given pro-life talks in hundreds of Catholic churches and at other venues over the years, and still stands ready to go speak before any group that requests him to.
His efforts will receive formal recognition Tuesday, Oct. 30, when he is presented the Voice of Life Award at the annual benefit dinner of the Macomb County affiliates of Right to Life of Michigan at the Sterling Inn in Sterling Heights.
Also honored will be Loraine Giorgio, an 83-year-old pro-life activist and member of Helpers of God's Precious Infants, who will receive the Rose of Life Award.
"Dr. Barkay is the co-founder of the Imago Dei Crisis Pregnancy Center, and has been a been a public voice defending life for many years," said Andrea Trella, assistant director of RTL Michigan's Macomb Educational Resource Center.
Barbara Rotary, development coordinator for RTL Michigan, said, "Dr. Barkay is an incredibly compassionate man, and I've so enjoyed working with him."
Rotary said she believes the retired osteopath "has a special place in heaven for his dedication to the unborn — he just works tirelessly for the cause of life."
Larry Giroux, of Sterling Heights, another long-time pro-life activist, said Barkay "almost single-handedly funded Imago Dei for about 15 years," referring to the crisis pregnancy center formerly on Eight Mile Road and now in the former convent of St. Jude Parish in northeast Detroit.
Giroux said Barkay was always generous with his financial support and his time: "He's just that kind of guy; he'd never let you down. He always did everything he could, and then a little bit more."
As ultrasound technology became available, Barkay purchased an ultrasound machine, and Shari Richard began working as his sonographer in 1990. Crisis pregnancy center clients were able to see their baby's movements on the screen, and 90 percent of those mothers who saw the ultrasound image chose to have their baby.
Barkay helped Richard produce a video showing how the process works, and Richard now devotes much of her time to training others how to use the technique around the country, providing a strong tool for the prevention of abortions.
Barkay and Angela, his wife of 51 years, raised five children. They are members of both St. Sylvester and St. Martin de Porres parishes in Warren. As part of St. Martin's Stephen Ministry, he makes regular visits to take Communion to a homebound parishioner.
Barkay said he was raised a Catholic, but it was hearing a Protestant evangelist give a talk on Jesus back when he was an undergraduate at Wayne State University that energized his faith. "I didn't become a Protestant, but it made me want to delve deeper into my Catholic faith. Later, as a medical student at Chicago Osteopathic Medical School, I became a daily communicant," he said.
Barkay said his opposition to abortion arose not only out of his faith, but the Hippocratic Oath he took upon graduation from medical school. One of the provisions of the famous oath that dates back to ancient Greece involves swearing to never give a woman a drug to induce an abortion.
Barkay remained in private medical practice in Detroit for 44 years, missing just one day of work, until 2000, when he picked up a drug-resistant staph infection — the dreaded MRSA infection that has been so much in the news in recent weeks — from a patient.
Besides his pro-life efforts, many people know Barkay for his work on behalf of the Tarahumara Children's Hospital in Mexico.
After learning of the work of Maryknoll missionaries there, Barkay was moved to visit the village in 1961. "When I first arrived there, 80 percent of the children were dying before the age of 5. Because of malnutrition, an ordinary bug would kill them, an ordinary cold would go into pneumonia," he recalled.
Over the years, Barkay has made 18 trips to Tarahumara to offer his professional services, and his fund raising efforts have provided the area with a modern hospital.
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