Protesters Outside Falls Church Healthcare Center Delineate Opposing Views on Abortion

Frequently, driving down S. Washington St. into the City of Falls Church, one sees placard-carrying anti-abortion protesters outside the office building in which the Falls Church Healthcare Center at 900 S. Washington St. is “dedicated to providing confidential and respectful gynecological healthcare and abortion care to women and their families.” 

According to the center’s website, the clinic offers medication abortion (‘the abortion pill’) for pregnancies through 9 weeks gestation, and procedural abortion for patients through 15 weeks gestation.” A "full term" of pregnancy is approximately 40 weeks. In addition to being “an abortion provider,” they say, they also offer “gynecological services including annual wellness exams, treatment of abnormal pap smear results, and LARC (Long Acting Reversible Contraception) implementation, including IUD insertion, Depo-Provera injections, and Nexplanon hormonal arm implantation.” 

What caught my eye the other day on Friday, Sept. 6, however, was seeing a woman waving to drivers passing by while proudly holding aloft a 4-foot pro-choice sign reading “My Body My Choice.” Nearby were two men with pro-life, or anti-abortion signs, occasionally pacing the sidewalk behind her.

I hadn’t seen such a protesting contrast on the site before and – given the heated atmosphere of the 2024 presidential race – I wondered what the protesters were all thinking and how they might be feeling. So, I parked my car, got out, and approached them all to ask for interviews, to which they each graciously accepted. 

Because I have my own biases – yet wish to remain as fair as possible for this article – I’ve transcribed their responses, with editing only for length and clarity. 

Interview with ‘My Body My Choice’ Protester, April Pavis-Shroeder

FCI: So, today you’re here carrying a sign that says “My Body My Choice”? 

April Pavis-Shroeder: Yes, it’s 4-foot by 3-foot sign, I think. I literally said to the people at the sign shop, “What’s the biggest sign you think I could carry?” And they said this, so I said, “Let’s do it!” 

[Car drives by with approving cheers from passengers.]

FCI: So, tell me what it’s like being out here. Usually, it’s counter-protesters you see here. 

AS: Yes. So, I want to be clear, this is not just about abortions. This is about reproductive rights as a whole. If you have had an ectopic pregnancy and have to get those dead cells [removed] – and I’m not talking about a dead ‘baby’ – I’m talking about cells that could kill you if it ruptures, you have to take Mifepristone, or otherwise do what’s called a [Dilation and Curettage procedure] D&C to remove those cells from your body, or you won’t have a fallopian tube anymore. And then you’ll not be able to have any more children if you so desire. It’s not just about people who have unprotected sex.

FCI: So, when did you first start protesting out here?

AS: Maybe two years, maybe a little bit more. And I can only come on days when my own kids are in school, Fridays. And I know that’s a common misconception, that only single women who have sex with strangers need abortions. Well, that’s not true. I actually have the two children I’ve ever been pregnant with. One of them was a fertility treatment baby and I’m thankful for the science that helped me and my husband do that. But we should all be given the right to choose what’s going on inside of our bodies.

FCI: So you’re also in favor of IVF?

AS: Absolutely. I specifically used IUI to make my child. But, that was just luck that I didn’t have to end up with [In vitro Fertilization] IVF which costs tens of thousands of dollars. IUI is “intrauterine insemination” – very much like breeding cows. My mom did not like that reference! [Laughs]. But, I did it anyway. 

FCI: So, I notice people are honking to give you the thumbs-up. Do you find it to be a positive reception out here or is there some hostility you have to face?

AS: I’ve had probably four hostile encounters. I get so many honks, so many thumbs-up, so many smiles I see…. 

[The two anti-abortion, or pro-life protesters pass by holding signs. One can be heard saying, “Pray for our sins.”] 

But my next sign is going to say, “Your religion does not affect my choices,” or “my body,” I haven’t decided which one. Because, I’m a person of faith. I literally work for a church. 

FCI: Can I ask which one?

AS: It’s a very progressive church. We’re very affirming and welcoming. 

FCI: Are you comfortable saying the name?

AS: Umm, I’m not going to say the name… But this is not associated with my church. And I also want to say, [the other side] has the faith and that’s beautiful. Faith is beautiful. But, your faith does not have the right to get in the way of someone else’s life practices. You know, there’s a saying, “There’s no hate like Christian love.” And it’s really difficult to know that people like that are giving Christians a bad name. 

FCI: So, you identify as a Christian?

AS: I do, yeah. I’m a Christian. I’m an activist. I am a mother – which is… a gift. It’s a gift to become a mother and to not have medical things getting in your way. I mean, I wouldn’t have become a mom without medical treatments, because my first kid was with fertility treatments, and then that kind of knocked things into place, and then my second one was kind of – whoops! [Laughs]. – because I didn’t know it worked! The regular biological way worked the next time. And we thought we were ‘One And Done.”

But, I saw what was happening in Alabama with the denial of IVF. And that’s gut-wrenching. That just reminded me why I’m out here. Because, again, your faith does not get to determine my body. 

[Counter-protesters walk behind invoking "God’s commandments."]

FCI: And do you have support at home?

AS: Oh God yes! My husband is so funny. On the way out of the house, he said, “You’re proof-of-life call, I’m probably not going to be able to pick it up. So, go ahead and text me.” Because every time I leave here, I text him or call him and say, ‘I’m fine. No one ran into me with a car today.’

But, yes, he’s worried about me. Of course he is. And I told him, if he’s that worried about me, he can come with me. But, he’s not that worried. [Laughs].

FCI: And how old are your kids?

AS: They are 8 and 4. And they see the sign. My 8-year-old – she does not know what an abortion is. She knows that sometimes people get pregnant and sometimes they might not be able to be pregnant. She knows that something might go wrong and the baby can’t – And I do use the term ‘baby’ because she doesn’t understand ‘cells’ – The baby won’t live if the mom gives birth. So the mom has to make a very hard choice. But, luckily, they’ll try again if they want to. 

[Points] Look, they come out with their pictures. Of dolphin fetuses, not even human fetuses. Half the time they’re dolphin fetuses because they look a lot like human fetuses. They come out here with these pictures, and that’s scary for kids, you know? 

But, I think this can start a conversation about a lot of things. “My Body My Choice” is also an 8-year-old saying, ‘Please don’t tickle me.’ It’s a 4- year-old saying, 'I don’t want a hug. So, don’t give a hug.’ I was forced as a child to ‘Go give [that person] a hug.’ I told my parents I didn’t like when this one friend of theirs would tickle me, because – of course I’m laughing – but I was crying. I hated it. He was so strong and it hurt. But, your natural body reaction is to laugh. And I hate it. 

FCI: We’ve come a long way on that.

AS: We’ve come a long way. But, there are parents that do that. And, of course, there are people in our lives, when I say, ‘You don’t have to hug,’ – But 'My Body My Choice' is so much more than reproductive care. 

FCI: And for people who don’t know, why this site in particular?

AS: It is the closest to my house. What is here is protesters.

FCI: But, what’s inside?

AS: Oh, a reproductive clinic, the Falls Church Healthcare Center. And, they know I’m doing it. It’s a four-foot sign. But this is not their jam. Being out on the street has nothing to do with them. Certain days of the week they have escorts helping people who need reproductive care – which, again, is pap smears to make sure we don’t have cervical cancer, tests to make sure we don’t have HPV, blood work, maybe seeing what’s going on with my Amenorrhea  – why am I not having my period? Is there something going on inside of my body? Endometriosis, which causes intense pain, and infertility. I mean, they’re mad that women are getting reproductive care in all the ways. But many of these women want to get pregnant and are trying to get pregnant! That’s also going on in there and that needs to be known. But, single issue voters, you know?

FCI: A lot of people don’t know this medical knowledge?

AS: No, because they just want to hear that we’re ‘killing babies.’

FCI: It’s almost taboo to talk about it.

AS: I mean, I don’t call it an ‘abortion clinic.’ I call it ‘reproductive care.’ Because it’s  a full spectrum. My daughters, when they get close to the age of starting their own cycle, we will have the conversations about all the kinds of reproductive care involved. It’s not like 25 years ago when we thought, ‘Oh let’s just take the pill,’ and then when you want to have a baby, let’s just come off the pill. Oh, my God, there are so many more options and so much empowerment for women and for girls and people who want to take their reproductive abilities into their own hands.

FCI: And do you take safety measures out here in particular?

AS: Yeah, and this is the first time I’ve ever had my back to the traffic?

FCI: Want me to come around on the other side?

AS: No, it’s okay. I think you would tell me. 

[Car drives by and driver gives thumbs-up.]

AS: Yayee, the City of Falls Church supports my side! But, I never have my back to traffic because in the last 8 years there have been a lot of people thinking of their cars as weapons, and they are. I only have one Airpod in so I can listen to music that keeps me calm, but  also, so I can hear screeching tires or if someone’s yelling at me, then I can protect myself. 

FCI: Have people thrown things at you?

AS: No. My daughter asked me that this morning. She said, ‘Mom, has anyone ever thrown a tomato at you?’

FCI: That’s actually a good question.

AS: And I said, ‘Girl, you’re watching too many cartoons!’ [Laughs]. So, I said, ‘No, sweetie, no one’s ever thrown anything at me.’ But, fingers crossed.

FCI: So, do you have conversations with these guys, the counter-protesters?

AS: Umm, the first couple of times, they tried. And I’m not ignoring them. They’ll say, ‘You’re killing babies.’ And I say, ‘No, it’s not a baby.’ And I’m not trying to be mean to them. But, scientifically, until a certain point, it’s not a baby. It is cells that will become a beautiful human if things continue. 

FCI: And if the mother chooses?

AS: And if the mother chooses to do it. And if there’s no medical [problem]. You know, they love talking about late-term abortions. And ‘post-birth’ kills me. No pun intended. It’s such a joke. 

Something I read yesterday which I thought was very powerful, is that the only ‘post-birth abortions’ happening are because of gun violence in this country. So that’s happening with intimate partner violence, intra-family violence. Every 11 minutes globally, a girl or woman is murdered – femicides specifically. So, when a woman or girl is killed every 11 minutes and that’s because of a patriarchal system that thinks we’re not important. We are supposed to be breeders. We are supposed to be stay-at-home moms or ‘Trad Wives,’ – that’s a thing going around right now. 

FCI: So, I imagine you’re a huge fan of JD Vance? Sorry, just joking – 

AS: JD Vance can suck an egg. That man yesterday said school shootings are a ‘fact of life.’ I cannot abide by that. I dropped my kid off. 

[Counter protesters walk by chanting quietly about “sin” and ‘the hour by death.’]

She takes the bus. And yesterday, I just sat down and cried. And then I go to work and it’s an all-woman staff, so empowering –

FCI: Can I ask where you work?

AS: No. But, I get to work and it’s an all-woman staff, four of us, three of us were in the office yesterday, and we’re all just crying. We’re all just crying. How do we leave our children in a place that in 2024, they could die? They could get murdered. And how do we do that? What are we doing?

FCI: So, you said Friday is your day off and you choose to do this in your free time?

AS: Yeah, Fridays are my day off, so I take one or both of my girls to their schools. I choose to do this for the people who work in there [Points].  I do this for the people who might be visiting here. I do this for the people who drive by to not just get one message. 

You know, I spent 13 years as a librarian in public libraries and so combatting mis- and dis-information is a huge goal of mine. And it’s disinformation to say that in 8 weeks, if I have an abortion, because something’s going wrong, or at 12 weeks, or at 20 weeks that I’m ‘killing a baby.’ Maybe I’m choosing myself, and my current family, or our future family. 

FCI: So last question. Obviously, the election is coming up, so, what’s important about this national election and all the state and local elections coming up?

AS: Right. I really appreciate that you said that, because local elections are where the change happens. The change happens in your town, in your community with your neighbors. And then you can grow it…. You know, we didn’t just get civil rights at the federal level. That started as this small thing in communities and it grew and grew to the point at which the federal government couldn’t ignore it any more. And justice takes time. Civil rights take time. 

And I’m continuing to sow seeds that my ancestors sowed. I may not ever see the fruits of this but I will keep sowing those seeds for the rest of my life. I owe it to my children. I owe it to every child in the world. I owe it to the four billion women on this planet who deserve to be taken just as seriously.

FCI: And we know rights can be taken away as well.

AS: The day after the election is when the work really starts. So often, we think, ‘Oh, Election Day is done, I’ll do it again in two years, or four years.’ No. All that you were yelling about, fighting for, writing letters about, phone banking for, it’s even stronger now. 

There’s this movement right now to talk to women, it’s called the Sticky Note. Women are writing to each other, woman-to-woman, and they’re sticking these sticky notes in women’s bathrooms. And I just love that sister network. And if we go back, not too far back and probably still in some communities, abortion and reproductive care was given by a woman in the town who knew how to do it. Who knew the right herbs and knew the right procedures. And I think that kind of underground messaging, that kind of underground sisterhood is the fight we’re going to keep fighting and the ideals we’re going to keep fighting for.

FCI: Thanks so much for the interview. 

AS: Thanks for making sure no cars were going to get me!

Interview with “Advocates for Life,” Darren Randall and Rick [Last Name Withheld]

FCI: So, tell me what brings you out here? You have a sign that says, ‘There’s nothing tolerant about killing the weak and the helpless. Abort73.org.” [Note: there is a .com group with the name "Abort73," but not a .org group.] And, “Young couple willing to adopt. Letschooselifetogether@gmail.com."

Rick: And that ["young couple willing to adopt" part] doesn’t refer to us by the way! [Laughs].

FCI: Alright, so what brings you out here today?

Rick: Well, what brings us out here today is to be advocates for life. [Points toward clinic building.] Young children are being killed every day by the thousands. And, women are being misled and misinformed and so are men. And we’re here to pray for all of them. We’re here to pray for the abortionists that are actually performing these killings. We’re here to pray for all the people. 

FCI: So, you point inside. What’s inside the building exactly?

Rick: There’s a facility in there that performs abortions. 

FCI: What’s it called?

Rick: What’s it called?

FCI: Yes. What’s the name of it, just for readers who might not know what’s inside where there are often protesters out here?

Rick: It’s related to Planned Parenthood.

[Note: According to Shoshana Fishbein, patient educator at Falls Church Healthcare, the clinic is “not associated with Planned Parenthood.”]

Darren Randall: Well, I’m here first of all because the Lord loves us all. He wants us all to come to a conversion of our hearts and our minds, souls, intellect and will. He wants us to get with His plan. What we lost many years ago. Way back when – if you’ve ever read the Old Testament and Genesis, when we lost our way by our first disobedience of Adam and Eve. And our Lord Christ came so that all things could be restored unto Him. Our Lord Christ. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we pray to our Lord to put an end to abortion. That’s why we try to follow the example of our Saints. Especially, that of our saintly and our Holy Mother Mary. We call her our Holy Mother because, by the Lord’s Spirit, she brought Christ to the Earth that we live by God’s example, to show us our human ways. He came to show us the way to salvation and how to live a rightly life. 

FCI: Thank you. And are you in the same church? Is it fair to ask what religion you are?

Rick and Darren Randall: Yes. We’re Catholics. 

FCI: And would you recommend that others come out to take on the same message?

Darren: Most certainly. To bring our country back to the Lord. We were once a Christian nation. 

Rick: We’re supposed to be a country of ‘freedom and justice for all.’ And it’s not justice when an innocent child is killed. We understand very much there are a lot of very serious difficulties when someone has an at-risk pregnancy. So, there’s a lot of support. Like these signs we’re holding here, where people can get help. And they’re talking about after they have an abortion and they’re suffering from it, they can get help when they’re not sure what to do. There’s a lot of great information out there. And, here I can give you this –

This one talks about, in roughly 30 pages, why we’re pro-life and not from any religious point of view, simply science and simple common moral principles that practically most of the world’s people adhere to. And, so you can take a look at that. 

[Rick gives me two handouts, one a thirty-page primer entitled ‘Why We’re Pro Life’ by Trent Horn and published by Catholic Answers Press, and the second, a brochure in Spanish asking if a woman is pregnant, and referring them to a group called A Woman’s Choice, offering “pregnancy resource centers in Herndon and Falls Church.”] 

FCI: Thanks. So, do you guys come out here regularly?

Darren: Yeah, usually Fridays, but some other days as well. 

FCI: Do you ever have dialogue with the people on the other side?

Rick: Yeah, sure we do. We did a couple of weeks ago. Some fellow said, ‘They’re not human beings, they’re just cells.’ And somehow, magically, it becomes a human being. But, that’s not true. From the moment of fertilization, that person, male or female, is a human being. They’re DNA. It’s a proven science. And all it is, is that they go through these different phases, and they’re the phases of life. Just because they don’t look exactly like you or me at that time walking around, doesn’t mean they’re not human. They are. Everything they need to be human is given to them at the moment of fertilization. That DNA carries them all the way through from that moment until death. 

FCI: [Points] So, she has a sign that says ‘My Body My Choice!’ So, the argument from that side seems to be that it requires the choice of a woman and her body to carry the fetus to term. What do you say to that?

Rick: Well, first of all that fetus is not her body. That’s the fetus’s body, which is a human being, an innocent, vulnerable human being that needs help just like a child needs help after it’s born. Just like an invalid or an elderly person needs help. So, it’s a difficult situation. We understand that. So, we want to provide support for them when people aren’t sure what to do. 

FCI: Anything else you’d like to add?

Rick: Well, we’re praying for everybody. Even the people who yell and scream at us. And another example is some woman yelled that I don’t have any say in the matter since I ‘don’t have a vagina.’ And all they did was yell and scream and then drove off. We didn’t have a chance to talk to her about, ‘How would you feel if someone was abusing a child? How would you feel about that? Do you think that’s wrong?’ I think everybody would say that’s wrong. And that if you saw that happen you’d want to protect that child. This is what we’re trying to do, to protect that child. We’re trying to protect and inform men and women to consider these things and respect the fact that there’s infinite dignity in every human being from the moment of fertilization to the moment of death. Every human being needs to be loved and protected. There’s a lot of hurt out here in the world and we pray for all these people. 

FCI: And not to be provocative, but the big issue you see on the campaign trail has to do with exceptions in the law when it comes to rape and incest. What’s your opinion on that?

Darren: Adoption is always an option. There’s also some help we provide on the info we carry around with us. There’s no need to have an abortion at all. There are some crisis centers that can offer help so we can save the babies.

Rick: I think rape and incest – I’ll ask you a question, is it the child’s fault?

FCI: I don’t know. 

Rick: You don’t know?

FCI: I don’t want to take a position on that.

Rick: You’ve got to be kidding me. The innocent child. What does your heart tell you, is it an innocent child?

FCI: I’d like you just to answer the question on your own without worrying about what I think.

Rick: Okay, sure. It’s not the child’s fault. Everybody knows that. It’s an innocent, vulnerable child. And there are many women and men that are the product of rape and incest. And, you know, they’re so thankful that they have life. No one should be denied life. It’s a fundamental principle. And so those cases are very difficult. And these are difficult issues. But it all comes down to fundamental things. Thou Shalt Not Kill. 

And we respect that life has infinite value. If everybody did, that sure would be great. But, we’re trying to help in that manner. And we know very much that these are very difficult situations. They really are. And we pray for those people and we pray that they can follow through and give life a chance and if they do – and there’s never been a case I’m aware of where someone has said, ‘I’m sorry I had this child and I’d like to go back and kill that child.’ It’s just not a sane thing.

FCI: Thank you for talking with me today. 

By Christopher Jones