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Christian Men at Work Podcast


Jan 9, 2017

What You'll Hear:

Kurt Kondrich spent two decades as a police officer, in Atlanta and Pittsburgh
When his daughter Chloe was born with Down Syndrome, he became a pro-life advocate and with Chloe and others they helped to pass the Down Syndrome Prenatal Education Act (or Chloe's Law) which requires that women are given uplifting information once they learn their unborn child may have down syndrome.
The law has been a catalyst for legislation in other states

Kurt is now Senior Director of Development for Human Coalition in Pittsburgh, a national pro-life organization
Kurt feels that men need to play a leading role in ending abortion

Intro
Kurt Kondrich spent two decades protecting and serving his local community as a police officer.

In 2003, Kurt's wife Margie gave birth to their daughter Chloe, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome.  While the couple eagerly welcomed their second child, Kurt was horrified to learn that many babies diagnosed prenatally with this chromosomal condition are aborted.  Although the future was uncertain, one thing was clear: Chloe was a blessing from God.

Kurt and Chloe became vocal advocates for legislative change.  The father-daughter duo visited the Pennsylvania legislature to advocate tirelessly for the passage of the Down Syndrome Prenatal Education Act (or Chloe's Law).  It ensures that families are given positive, factual, and uplifting information about what to expect after a Down syndrome diagnosis.

Today, Kurt is Senior Director of Development for Human Coalition in Pittsburgh.  He's shared his passion for LIFE at churches and on college campuses, and he relishes one-on-one conversations with pro-lifers seeking deeper engagement in an effort to end abortion.  Kurt calls engaged pro-lifers "investors in the most valuable resource we have: human lives."
Q&A*
When Did You Become a Christian?
I grew up Roman Catholic, attended church weekly, but when I left home I walked away from my faith.

After my wife got pregnant I saw the ultrasound and our first child in the womb, it was then that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

I also had support from our Lutheran pastor Eric in this decision.
Talk About Your Career as a Police Officer
I grew up in the '70's.  I loved Superman and Batman and wanted to become a soldier or police officer and was fascinated with courage and honor and valor.

I graduated college with a degree in criminology at Indiana University in Pennsylvania and wanted to go to a city that had a lot of crime so I could make the greatest difference.  I started out working for the City of Atlanta Police Force.

The sign at the academy said "You can talk about what's wrong with the world, or you can do something about it".

I've always said your badge is on the left side of your chest because that's where your heart is.
In 2003 Your Wife Became Pregnant. Walk Us Through That Experience
We knew it would be a girl and named her Chloe.  Our son Nolan was 4 at the time and very excited.

We were both 40 years old and we were pressured to have prenatal tests and told we were high risk for having a child with down syndrome.  It's worth noting that the word they used "risk" is a negative word.

I asked them what we would do if we had tests done.  They said we could choose to end the pregnancy.  That blew me away that we could kill our daughter because a test said she's not perfect by our culture's standard.  We didn't have the test done.

I remember the doctor was surprised at her birth that I wanted to hold her.  We moved forward in a positive way focusing on her abilities not her disabilities.

I tell people we're all disabled.  We all have things we're good at and things we struggle with.

My daughter is now 13, she's fully included in her neighborhood school.  She reads better than a lot of cops I worked wit...