For nearly 50 years, pro-lifers have prayed and fasted, marched in the bitter cold, sidewalk counseled outside abortion clinics, and hoped for the day that Roe v. Wade would be overturned. Now that Roe is gone, the real work begins, said Bishop Michael F. Burbidge. “Everything we’ve been doing, we have to continue to do with greater intensity,” he said during his most recent Walk Humbly Podcast.
Most people know the Catholic Church opposes abortion, but they don’t know the church walks alongside families in need, he said. Parishes, diocesan Catholic Charities and Catholic individuals provide housing, adoption services, medical care, financial assistance to those who choose life, and help for those who have chosen abortion. “We have to do a better job of letting people know that,” said Bishop Burbidge.
“(Richmond) Bishop (Barry C.) Knestout and I have had a chance to meet with significant leaders in the commonwealth and we wanted them to know these are the services our Catholic Church provides,” he said. “They were a bit surprised. They weren’t aware of all that. They know what we’re against, but they need to know what we’re for.”
Volunteer at a maternity home
Lisa McGrath, a parishioner of Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Winchester, first volunteered to babysit while the residents of New Eve Maternity Home in Winchester attended a weekly life skills class. But for the past year and a half, she’s been tutoring a mother who arrived in the United States from Ghana as a teenager. “She had maybe a second-grade education. Her literacy skills (were) very low,” said McGrath. “She’s got a baby who will be 2 in December and she can now pick up a baby book and read to her daughter, which is just amazing.”
The women who come to the maternity home need housing and financial support, but many are looking for emotional support too. When McGrath had her children, she would call her mother for advice. “A lot of these women don’t have that. They don’t come from stable homes. As volunteers, you want to show the women who are in these crisis pregnancies that we’re here to support (them),” she said.
That support can change their lives, she said. “(One resident) is taking classes to become a peer counselor — she had a drug-addicted past and she’s trying to turn her life around for her children. She’s also going through the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) program at our church. She never knew before that people could care so much, (and) I’ve heard that from so many of the women,” said McGrath. “They’re just blown away by the outpouring of love. I think this definitely inspired this one woman to go to RCIA.”
McGrath said volunteering at New Eve is one of the most rewarding things she’s ever done. “It’s just a wonderful cause. We’re saving babies, we’re saving mothers, we’re changing lives,” she said. “Especially recently with pro-life (issues) coming to the forefront of the news, I think you can’t sit back and just let the people in government take care of it, and this is a good way to help out. Babies are gifts from God, so let’s do what we can as a community to help.”
Volunteer with Gabriel Project
When May Respicio found herself in an unexpected pregnancy during law school, she looked for support from a pro-life organization. “It was a very difficult time in my life,” said Respicio. “It was very difficult to talk to anyone about it, including my family at that time until they (became more accepting). It’s not an easy journey.”
Now, Respicio volunteers with Gabriel Project at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington. The parish-based ministry with diocesan support matches pregnant women with peer companions, called angels, who provide emotional and spiritual accompaniment during pregnancy and connect women with local resources such as Catholic Charities or parish charitable groups. “I wanted to help other moms who may be going through the same thing,” said Respicio.
Though she began volunteering just this year, she and the ministry have helped four moms, including one with a baby born on her birthday. “It has been (so) collaborative and such a blessing to see other parishioners contribute concretely to help someone in need,” she said. “(Through Gabriel Project), we have the opportunity to extend our kindness to others and it’s a really easy way to get involved.”
Zonia Garcia coordinates the Gabriel Project ministry at All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas. It serves around 15-20 women a year, providing emotional support and material goods, including the baby clothes and diapers that are stored in Garcia’s garage. Recently, the group held a baby shower for three pregnant women, including one who is having twins.
Before she became coordinator, Garcia accompanied a Catholic woman in her early 40s who was pregnant with her first child. “She would call me and say, ‘Hey Zonia, I’m feeling this way, what do you think I have?’ It was a very close (relationship),” she said. Later, Garcia ran into the mom at the parish office, setting up a day to have her child baptized. It was a wonderful affirmation of all their work, said Garcia. “The older I get the more I know that God is the one guiding this project.”
Advocate for life
As director of the Respect Life group at Holy Spirit Church in Annandale, Dawn Beutner is involved in many initiatives to support new life. “In our parish we have a Gabriel Project, we have a couple fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for crisis pregnancies, we have a diaper collection every month,” she said. Recently, they launched a “Summer of Mercy” initiative where every Saturday afternoon outside the church along Braddock Road, volunteers offer resources to pregnant women and help to those involved in abortion.
Advocacy is another big part of their work. Beutner encourages members to sign up for emails from the Virginia Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the Virginia bishops, and Human Life Action, which advocates for life on the federal level. “Not only is it a great way to be able to reach out to your legislators on a specific issue, but it’s also very educational,” said Beutner. “Sometimes you hear things thirdhand through the news and it’s all distorted — (here) you know exactly what the bill says and what it means and what a Catholic take on that legislation would be. That’s very empowering.”
Holy Spirit parishioners have attended the March for Life in Washington, the Virginia March for Life and the recent Defending Life Day, both in Richmond, where they met with state legislators to talk about pro-life bills. Their goal was to show legislators that they oppose abortion and also introduce them to the parish. “I brought a long list of ways we are supporting the community. We have a St. Vincent de Paul Society, we have Knights of Columbus, we are committed to relationships with ecumenical service organizations,” she said. “For a woman who is facing an unplanned pregnancy and who needs help, we believe that there is help for them and that abortion is not that help. We’re willing to do what we can to convince (the legislator) that we’re ready to help.”
Laws do affect behavior, said Beutner, and Catholics should advocate for more legal protections for the unborn. “Seriously think about (ways) you can make a personal connection with your elected representatives and communicate to them that as a constituent, you care about this issue and why you do,” she said. “Now is the time to start volunteering and to be more vocal in a charitable way about your opinions.”
The state of abortion in Virginia
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which means there is no federal constitutional right to abortion and the people and their elected representatives have the power to protect the dignity and rights of the human person from the moment of conception by enacting life-affirming laws in their states and in Congress.
Virginia’s current abortion laws allow no limits on abortion in the first trimester and certain non-physicians may perform abortions. In the second trimester, the abortion must be performed in a hospital by a physician. In the third trimester, the abortion must be performed in a hospital by a physician, and the physician and two consulting physicians must certify that “the continuation of the pregnancy is likely to result in the death of the woman or substantially and irremediably impair the mental or physical health of the woman.” Virginia has a ban on partial-birth abortion and, subject to exceptions that can be granted only through a judicial process, requires parental consent for minors to obtain an abortion.
Catholic-affiliated charities work for life
Pregnancy resource centers such as the MaRiH Center in Alexandria, Front Royal Pregnancy Center and A Woman’s Choice in Falls Church and Herndon provide pregnancy tests, formula, and maternity and baby clothes.
A Best Choice Mobile Ultrasound and Pregnancy Resource Center travels around Northern Virginia to provide ultrasounds to pregnant women wherever they are.
Catholic Charities Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic provides prenatal care to uninsured or underinsured low-income women in Western Prince William County, Manassas City and Manassas Park, serving 327 moms in 2021.
Tepeyac OB/GYN in Fairfax provides financial aid to women in need. In 2021, they delivered 120 babies to women who might have otherwise chosen abortion and provided 70 families with infant gift baskets.
Mothers in need can find a home at several residences for mothers and children including Mary’s Shelter in Fredericksburg, New Eve Maternity Home in Winchester, Paul Stefan Regional Home & Education Center in Orange and Catholic Charities St. Margaret of Cortona Transitional and Maternity Housing in Woodbridge.
Project Manger- Cribs for Life delivers cribs to families in need, more than 1,000 since it began in 2008.
Aid organizations such as Catholic Charities and the St. Vincent de Paul Society provide food to the hungry around the diocese.
For more Catholic-affiliated pro-life resources, go here. For more Northern Virginia pro-life resources, go here.
