The life of a baby was saved from abortion March 29 — Holy
Thursday — according to witnesses Linda and Robert Dwyer.
A man’s wife was inside the Falls Church Healthcare Center to
have an abortion, an abortion he did not want her to have. The couple already has
a young boy named Joshua. When the man saw the Dwyers walk toward the clinic
with their signs he approached and asked if he could bring the signs inside.
Linda explained that it wasn’t allowed because there was an
abortion clinic inside. “He said, ‘I know, my wife is in there having an
abortion and I don’t want her to,’” said Linda. “I gave him several brochures
on programs that can help and he went inside the clinic.”
“We told him while you’re in there we will pray for you,” she
said. “He responded that he is Jewish and I reminded him (the next day) was
Passover.”
A few minutes later, the Dwyers were joined by other sidewalk
counselors, all of whom were praying “like mad,” according to Linda. Four
police cars also arrived. Linda said they do not know what transpired in the
clinic to bring such a response, but the police talked with the man.
According to Susan Finarelli, public information officer for the
City of Falls Church Police Department, an incident took place March 29 at the
building located at 900 S. Washington St. A subject was banned from the
building after inciting fear in some of the occupants of the building. A police report was taken. The names, relationship of the caller,
reporting party and suspect are not being disclosed to the public.
The man’s brother and nephew arrived shortly thereafter. The man
came out of the clinic about 30 minutes later and 10 minutes after him his wife
followed.
“God made a save on Holy Thursday,” Linda said. “If anyone
thought before that we don’t make a difference, it was definite that God made a
difference through us.”
It was a multi-faith encounter. The Dwyers — she a parishioner of
Community United Methodist Church in Arlington and he a parishioner of St. John
the Beloved Church in McLean — and a Jewish man. “It shows the universal desire
to preserve life is prevalent everywhere,” said Linda.
In her three years doing sidewalk counseling, Linda has never
experienced anything like this. “I have heard of people turning around. It
meant a great deal to me,” she said. “Two days before it was 38 degrees and
pouring rain and I wished I knew if I was doing some good. You seldom know what
good you’ve done until years later. I got the answer (on Holy Thursday).”
The experience made a huge difference in Linda’s experience of
Easter. “We attended the Easter Vigil Mass and all I could think of was the
glorious miracles of Our Lord,” Linda said.