An Encounter with the Divide

This picture illustrates a divide. 

Two office buildings, separated by one wall. Two staff teams, 

full of compassionate people, but with completely different missions.

On the left: AAA Women for Choice

On the right: Amethyst Health Center for Women, Inc. 

Can you guess which one does abortions and which is a pregnancy resource center? Probably not.

 Here's the story: 

I went on an adventure today. It lasted less than a half hour, but it was truly powerful. I pulled up to these office buildings to see the abortion clinic that I have been told about that is so close to Care Net in Manassas (where I'm doing my 3rd rotation). Amethyst Health Center. There it was, sure enough. I found a spot to park and noticed a woman standing near the building eyeing me, and as I got out of the car I realized she may think I was seeking an abortion myself (their abortion days are Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday). She said in a friendly manner "Can I help you find something?" I smiled told her "I'm here actually for an unusual reason..." and explained that I was interning with Students for Life and a pro-life student who just wanted to see the clinic and maybe pray if abortions were going on. 

I ended up talking with Mary, Assistant Director at AAA, the abortion alternative clinic, for quite some time. Amethyst, the clinic next door, was performing abortions today. She said she thinks they do about 8 on average, although one day they heard 20. Yes, "heard." Since they share a wall, they can hear the aspiration (vacuum) machine most often used for surgical abortions, and sometimes, they hear screams or wails through the walls. AAA Women for Choice is located where they are because they want to reach out to women who may feel that abortion is their only option, even literally so from next door. "Free Pregnancy Test" is displayed prominently on their window, and on abortion days, Mary stands outside the clinic (on her side of the "line") and will vocally offer the women going into Amethyst resources and alternatives. 

It's not too uncommon, or uncommon at all really, for a pregnancy resource clinic to be located so close to an abortion clinic. They follow all the rules, and they respect the woman's choice of which door to walk in, but they do all they can to show that abortion is not their only option. In fact, Triple A Women for Choice is very much like the pregnancy resource center Care Net which I just started the last part of my internship with. I am truly amazed by the good work centers like these do. Their concern for these women is completely genuine and they are so self-giving. Of course they are also concerned for the baby in cases in which the woman seeking help is pregnant, but I have learned quite clearly that their intention is, above all else, to minister to the woman in need. Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) are not political places; they transcend politics. They are the hands and feet of the pro-life movement, giving proof that abortion is not the only answer to a crisis pregnancy. They are a beautiful ministry, and I wish I had more beautiful words to describe them right now. 

Actually, check out my friend/intern Leslie's blog on this very topic here: 

Anyways, this experience was so powerful because I literally stood at the divide of the pro-life/pro-choice debate. The parking spaces in front of each clinic are marked "Reserved." On one side, "Reserved AAA" and on the other, "Reserved AHC." The physical divide is simply striking, yet it represents the ideological divide our nation faces on the issue of abortion. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm reading Abby Johnson's book unPlanned right now. For those who haven't heard of her, she is a former Planned Parenthood director from Texas, and the book is her powerful story of crossing the line into the pro-life movement. 

I'm glad I stepped outside of my box for a little exploring this morning, and it also felt like I was stepping into Abby Johnson's world a bit in experiencing the tension in between sides. When it comes to abortion clinics and PRCs, there is compassion on both sides of the divide, but truth and freedom lie in life, not death.