[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 42 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E479-E480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING DR. JERRY SHEN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. W. TODD AKIN

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 17, 2003

  Mr. AKIN. Mr. Speaker, on February 28th the St. Louis area lost one 
of its leading physicians and a committed advocate of the sacredness of 
human life, Dr. Jerry Shen.
  Dr. Shen was a Harvard-trained pediatrician, a pioneer in the field 
of adolescent medicine whose commitment to the young people of my great 
home state of Missouri was legendary. But that commitment had roots not 
in the Show-Me state but in Dr. Shen's native land of China.
  When the Communists seized power in China, Dr. Shen and his family 
were on the last boat out and traveled on expired passports. He and his 
family had faith that God would take care of them, and in His great 
mercy, He did.
  Dr. Shen was someone whose medical knowledge and Catholic faith 
animated his belief that human personhood should be protected from the 
moment of conception until natural death. He was instrumental in 
founding the Missouri Right-to-Life movement, which regularly has one 
of the largest delegations to

[[Page E480]]

the annual March for Life in January here in our nation's capital.
  As a former board member of Missouri Right-to-Life, I knew the work 
of Dr. Shen well and admired it greatly.
  Dr. Shen was a man of action. He admired Mother Theresa's work and 
told his family he was going to convince her to bring her Sisters of 
Charity to St. Louis to work with the poor. Many in the community were 
doubtful but Dr. Shen moved forward and today, the Sisters are in the 
City of St. Louis. In fact, a full row of the Sisters were at Dr. 
Shen's funeral mass.
  Dr. Shen's funeral mass was about ``Choosing Life,'' a text taken 
from Deuteronomy 30:5-12. Archbishop Justin Rigali of the Diocese of 
St. Louis quoted the Apostle Paul in referring to Dr. Shen, noting that 
he had ``fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith.''
  There can be few higher epitaphs than that. Dr. Shen did, indeed, 
fight faithfully and well for the right to life that our Declaration of 
Independence affirms is intrinsic to all of us. For that, he deserves 
the thanks of a grateful nation. He certainly has mine.

                          ____________________