Maria, a 34-year-old woman from Guatemala, had complications with her pregnancy and found the care she needed in an unlikely setting — an abortion clinic turned Catholic medical clinic.
The expectant mother, who had gestational diabetes, said the Catholic Charities Mother of Mercy free clinic in Manassas, Virginia, made her “feel like I’m well taken care of.”
She asked The Washington Times not to publish her last name.
“I know that that is a high risk for me and the baby and so I know that I can get it under control, just by taking care of myself,” she said, through a translator.
Helping women in crisis pregnancies — and those who lack all of the resources that many take for granted — is the mission of the clinic housed in a former abortion clinic. Volunteer doctors and nurses support the operation, and no client pays for anything, according to the Diocese of Arlington.
The Diocese said the annual value of the clinic’s services — if patients were charged — is $2.1 million.
“I think we’ve easily seen over 1,000 women” since Mother of Mercy began providing prenatal care in January 2019, said Alexandra Luevano, a nurse who is program director for the clinics.
“We get women who just aren’t able to find prenatal care services, and who didn’t qualify for Medicaid,” she said. “Most of our pregnancies are not the typical regular pregnancy, but a lot of them have comorbidities that make their pregnancy high risk.”
The complications often include gestational diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as obesity in some cases.
Initially, the clinic had a greater number of women coming in to seek an abortion, which Catholic facilities do not provide.
“We were able to help them and counsel them through to help them choose life,” Ms. Luevano said. “I think the biggest thing is, we help them see the benefits of having this child and not only to keep the baby but they could also give that baby up for adoption.”
Mother of Mercy also helps dispel the belief that those who oppose abortion are merely “pro-birth” and don’t help mothers and children afterward, she said, including assistance with rent and utilities, or in finding a safe place to live in instances of spousal abuse.
“At our clinic, we believe that life includes the mother, so it’s not just having that baby born but we promote the mother’s health, so the mother’s health is very important for us,” Ms. Luevano said. “During pregnancy and after pregnancy, we provide material assistance. … We want to make sure that these women have the resources they need and I can tell you that we’ve had many women that stay with us and come back to us for years. I mean, we have women that come back and get regular health care needs from us.”
Initially, she said, the Mother of Mercy clinics — a second location is in Woodbridge — were only going to be open for a few hours a week in their first five years of operation.
“That didn’t last very long, it didn’t even last a year before we were open full-time,” Ms. Luevano said, “I’m excited to see what God has in store for us in the future.”
Stephen Carattini, Catholic Charities president and CEO, said the clinics allow the church to help with more than prenatal care.
“We walk with mothers and children in some of the other ways through our ministries for people who might be in need of secure housing, people, diapers, food, housing and job training,” he said. “We have a variety of ministries that work with women and children and families throughout the spectrum of care, so I’m very happy and very grateful that we can be with women in times of unexpected or difficult pregnancies.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article misidentified the Catholic Diocese of Arlington and the individual receiving care pictured with the story.
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