An abortion clinic in Manassas, Virginia, has closed. It will be opening in November as a Catholic charity that offers free medical care, The Christian Post reported. 

Amethyst Health Center for Women closed in 2015. A group of Catholic businessmen bought the facility. Now it will reopen as Mother of Mercy Free Medical Clinic, to provide free basic medical care. Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington will run the clinic. 

Beating Scalpels Into Ploughshares

“Two years ago, a group of Catholic entrepreneurs in the Manassas area purchased the facility with the agreement that the abortion clinic would cease operations,” the diocese announced. “Wanting to serve the needy in the community, they turned to Catholic Charities, asking if we could transform the use of the space.” The diocese said that the clinic would “offer a form of redemption” to the space that had once served “such a sad and dark purpose.” 

The Amethyst Heath Center performed 1,300 abortions annually over 27 years in operation. The Arlington Catholic Herald reported that many pro-life groups picketed the location when it was open. “Over the years, 17 area Catholic churches, along with a number of Christian denominations, participated in protests outside Amethyst. Fourteen 40 Days for Life campaigns were held there.”

It Started with Outreach to an Abortionist

The prolife group had been reaching out to the clinic’s owner for some time. It built a relationship with her, and offered to buy the facility. The owner was open to ceasing her abortion practice. But she worried that her son would need financial support. The group looked for a job for her son. It raised money to purchase the property so the owner could retire. The group raised money through local churches and entrepreneurs.

The new medical clinic will be overseen by the Arlington diocese.

This is the second abortion clinic within a week to close and prepare to hand keys over to a pro-life group. Last week, The Stream reported that a Germantown, Maryland clinic will be doing the same. According to a Guttmacher Institute study, the national abortion rate as of 2014 had dropped below 1973 levels — 16.3 per 1,000 women — when the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade made abortions legal.