BlackFriars Volume IV, Issue II | Page 4

DEFENDING LIFE AT DARTMOUTH: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANA MARIA DUMITRU By BlackFriars Staff Ana Maria Dumitru is a sixth year MD-PhD candidate at Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine, a member of Medical Students for Life, a trained instructor on Natural Family Planning methods, and a frequent speaker and writer on pro-life and natural fertility issues. BlackFriars spoke with Ana Maria about standing up for Life on a secular campus and her relationship with the Dominican Friars, who serve the Aquinas House Catholic Student Center at Dartmouth. me on the difference between the Catholic Church’s teaching on Natural Family Planning and artificial birth control. From then on, I found myself in increasingly intense conversations about the meaning and purpose of studying medicine and the teachings of the Catholic Church. How did you become a spokesperson for the Church’s teachings on life and fertility issues? I’ve been Catholic and Pro-Life my whole life, but I’ve never been forced to take a stand for either until I got to Dartmouth. In my first year, one of my classmates cornered me in the hallway and questioned BlackFriars - Volume IV, Issue II Ana Maria at mass in the chapel of Aquinas House, the Catholic Student Center at Dartmouth College.