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A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a Florida school district’s policy that separates school bathrooms by biological sex.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced its 7-4 decision on Friday, ruling that the St. Johns County School Board did not discriminate against transgender students based on sex, or violate federal civil rights law by requiring transgender students to use gender-neutral bathrooms or bathrooms matching their biological sex.

The court’s decision was split down party lines, with seven justices appointed by Republican presidents siding with the school district and four justices appointed by Democratic presidents siding with Drew Adams, a biological female, who sued the district in 2017 after not being allowed to use the boys restroom.

A three-judge panel from the appeals court previously sided with Adams in 2020, but the full appeals court decided to take up the case.

FEMALE SWIMMER WHO TIED LIA THOMAS SLAMS TRANSGENDER SPORTS POLICY: TAKING WOMEN ‘BACK TO THE 1970S’

Judge Barbara Lagoa wrote in the majority opinion that the school board policy advances the important governmental objective of protecting students’ privacy in school bathrooms. She said the district’s policy does not violate the law because it’s based on biological sex, not gender identity.

Judge Jill Pryor wrote in a dissenting opinion that the interest of protecting privacy is not absolute and must coexist alongside fundamental principles of equality, specifically where exclusion implies inferiority.

TRANSGENDER WOMAN’S OP-ED REGRETTING SEX RE-ASSIGNMENT SURGERY DRAWS STRONG MEDIA REACTION: ‘HEARTBREAKING’

Two other federal appeals courts have ruled that transgender students can use bathrooms that accord with their identities.

Friday’s decision increases the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue.

Lambda Legal, a LGBTQ rights group that has been providing aid to Adams, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Russia on Saturday fired 20 cruise missiles at Ukraine as civilians looked to welcome in the New Year, resulting in the death of at least one and dozens injured.

Ukraine’s air defenses shot down 12 of the 20 missiles launched using Tu-95ms strategic bombers positioned in the Caspian Sea along with ground-based missile systems Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said on Telegram. 

The strikes hit locations across the Kyiv, Zhytomyr and the Khmelnytskyi regions. 

Part of a hotel sits destroyed following a missile attack on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a statement that at least one person had been killed.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

RUSSIA READIES AIR DEFENSES OVER MOSCOW, GIVES SHELTER MAPS TO BORDER CITY AHEAD OF NEW YEAR

Ukrainian air defense forces shot down six missiles in Kyiv where at least one person was killed and 16 were injured, along with five missiles in the Zhytomyr region and one in the Khmelnytskyi region, which left seven injured, including three in “serious condition” according to Ukrainian news outlets. 

 Five districts in the western, central, southern, and eastern parts of Kyiv were hit including at least one hotel, the Ukraine Palace concert hall, and residential buildings.

Emergency workers gather at the scene of a blast on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

 KYIV, LVIV WITHOUT POWER AFTER RUSSIA LAUNCHES ‘MASS’ AIR AND SEA BASED CRUISE MISSILE ATTACK ACROSS UKRAINE

Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko took to Twitter to announce the strikes Saturday morning and said, “There are explosions in Kyiv! Stay in shelters!”

Klitschko said that while Kyiv residents still had access to water and heat, certain train lines had been closed and roughly 30 percent of the city was without electricity.

Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.

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After a summer of marches outside the Supreme Court, and a physical threat against one its members, Chief Justice John Roberts thanked Congress Saturday for strengthening judicial security. 

But Roberts’ annual year-end report was noteworthy for what he did not mention: any update on the Court’s internal investigation into the public leak of a draft opinion in the contentious abortion decision striking down Roe v. Wade.

The 5-4 final ruling in June reversing the nationwide constitutional right to the procedure sparked weeks of angry protests, an 8-foot-tall unscalable metal fencing surrounding the court building and increased round-the-clock security at the justices’ homes. 

An armed California man was arrested in June outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Maryland home and charged with attempted assassination of a Supreme Court member. He told officers her was angry at the leaked draft opinion that would dramatically shift abortion rights back to the states.

Roberts, in his written summary of the federal judiciary, noted the 65th anniversary of riots outside Little Rock Central High in Arkansas, following plans to segregate public schools.

“The law requires every judge to swear an oath to perform his or her work without fear or favor, but we must support judges by ensuring their safety. A judicial system cannot and should not live in fear,” Roberts wrote. “The events of Little Rock teach about the importance of rule by law instead of by mob.”

Congress in recent weeks passed a law increasing security and privacy protections for federal judges and their families.

The act was named after Daniel Anderl, son of federal Judge Esther Salas. The 20-year-old was shot to death in 2020 at his New Jersey home in what was meant to be an attack on the judge by a disgruntled former litigant who found the family’s address online. 

“I want to thank the Members of Congress who are attending to judicial security needs — these programs and the funding of them are essential to run a system of courts,” Roberts wrote.

As head of the federal judiciary, the chief justice of the United States summarized a dramatic year at the Supreme Court and the 107 district and appeals courts across the country.

Besides noting security concerns in general terms, Roberts did not address the controversy surrounding the abortion ruling, or the eroding public confidence in the court itself.

A Fox News poll in September found just 42% of those surveyed approving of the Supreme Court’s job performance — with a majority 52% disapproving. Just five years ago, the numbers were reversed — 58% approving, 31% disapproving.

SUPREME COURT PRAISED FOR TITLE 42 BORDER SECURITY RULING: ‘HUGE VICTORY’ 

And when it comes to the controversial abortion ruling, our poll found just 32% approving of the decision reversing Roe v. Wade, with 63% disapproving. And 57% support making abortion legal all or most of the time.

Many progressives in particular view the current court as too political, following former President Trump’s appointments of three justices in his single term, tilting the court to a 6-3 conservative majority.

“Chief Justice Roberts has expressed a concern for the institutional standing of the court and as the chief justice, that is very much a concern that he should properly have,” said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the Constitutional Accountability Center. “I think the leak of the Dobbs [abortion] opinion has caused internal strife on the court. The substance of that decision has caused strife among millions of Americans, particularly women. And so we’re seeing a court that has taken a big hit in the eyes of the public and in terms of public confidence in the court.”

Questions over the court’s “legitimacy” have extended to the justices themselves. 

“When courts become extensions of the political process, when people see them as extensions of the political process, when people see them as trying just to impose personal preferences on a society irrespective of the law, that’s when there’s a problem — and that’s when there ought to be a problem,” Justice Elena Kagan said at a legal conference recently. “If, over time, the court loses all connection with the public and with public sentiment, that is a dangerous thing for democracy.”

MAJOR ECO GROUP SAW LARGE FUNDING UPTICK FUELED BY LIBERAL DARK MONEY NETWORK: ‘BEST YEAR EVER’

As far as who leaked the draft opinion of the abortion ruling, the mystery continues.

The day after the leak was published by Politico in May, the Chief Justice appointed an internal committee led by Court Marshal Gail Curley to oversee the investigation.

Justice Neil Gorsuch in September said he expected a report to be released “soon,” but the court has not publicly identified the leaker, or issued any updates.

Multiple sources previously told Fox News that the investigation into the approximately 70 individuals in the court who might have had access to the draft opinion has been narrowed. Sources say much of the initial focus was on the three dozen or so law clerks, who work directly with the justices on their caseload.

But court sources say the leak has disrupted the internal dynamics between the nine justices, who rely on discretion and a level of secrecy in their private deliberations, to do their jobs free of outside influence.

“The leak of that draft opinion was just an absolutely terrible, cataclysmic event for the court,” said Thomas Dupree, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Bush 43 administration. “I think it was a breach of trust, it was obviously a breach of integrity. And I think it’s going to take a long time for the scars from that leak to heal.”

2022 also the history-making confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, as the first Black female member of the court.

She has wasted little time putting her imprint on the bench. A survey of oral arguments since October found Jackson to be the most active questioner of counsel in the public sessions, at times offering lengthy challenges of the conservative positions offered by lawyers making their case.

In perhaps the mostly closely-watched appeal of the term, an affirmative action challenge to race-conscious university admissions policies, Jackson in October worried about the consequences if minority applicants would be barred from talking about race in their admissions essays many schools require.

FACE OF ‘LIBS OF TIKTOK,’ WHO REMAINED ANONYMOUS DUE TO LEFT’S ‘VIOLENT NATURE,’ FINALLY REVEALED

“I’m worried that that creates an inequity in the system with respect to being able to express your identity and, importantly, have it valued by the university when it is considering the goal of bringing in different people.”

The 52-year-old Jackson is one of 99 lifetime judicial appointments by President Biden, more than his two predecessors in their first two years in office. 

And Biden — who has made nominating judges a political priority — has 83 court vacancies to fill in the new year, likely to be helped by a Democrat-controlled Senate. 

The president hopes his choices will pay off in the long-term, believing judges who share his ideology would help advance his broader legislative and executive agenda. 

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE AMY CONEY BARRETT FACES CALLS TO RECUSE HERSELF FROM LGBTQ CASE OVER CHRISTIAN FAITH

In the short-term, the Supreme Court will remain a 6-3 conservative majority.

Rulings are expected in coming months on hot-button topics like :

All these pending issues, the internal leak investigation, and questions over the court’s public standing will test the nine justices, and the chief justice in particular, who long sought to preserve the judiciary’s reputation as free from partisan politics.

While his year-end report may have deftly sidestepped hard questions, remarks Roberts made in September revealed his growing concern.

“If the court doesn’t retain its legitimate function, I’m not sure who would take up that mantle. You don’t want the political branches telling you what the law is, and you don’t want public opinion to be the guide of what the appropriate decision is,” Roberts said. “Simply because people disagree with an opinion is not a basis for questioning the legitimacy of the court.”

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When Indonesia passed controversial amendments to its criminal code earlier this month, one aspect above all others dominated the headlines: the criminalization of sex outside marriage.

Tourism figures warned it would put foreigners off visiting and hurt Indonesia’s global reputation – no small matters in a country that welcomed up to 15 million international travelers annually before the pandemic and recently held the G20 presidency for the first time in its history.

Officials have since played down the likelihood of tourists being charged, but hundreds of millions of Indonesians still face the prospect of up to a year in jail for the same offense – and rights activists warn that this is only the start of the new code’s potential to threaten Indonesians’ personal freedoms and civil liberties. Indonesian officials, on the other hand, defend the move as a necessary compromise in a democracy that is home to the world’s largest Muslim population.

The new code also criminalizes cohabitation between unmarried couples and promoting contraception to minors, and enshrines laws against abortion (except in cases of rape and medical emergencies when the fetus is less than 12 weeks) and blasphemy.

It also limits Indonesians’ right to protest and criminalizes insulting the president, members of his cabinet or the state ideology.

Offenders face the prospect of prison terms ranging from months to years.

Rights groups have been scathing in their assessments.

“In one fell swoop, Indonesia’s human rights situation has taken a drastic turn for the worse,” said Andreas Harsono, senior Indonesia researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“Potentially, millions of people will be subject to criminal prosecution under this deeply flawed law. Its passage is the beginning of an unmitigated disaster for human rights in Indonesia.”

The creation of the new code is in part a reflection of the growing influence conservative Islam plays in the politics of what is the world’s third-largest democracy.

About 230 million of the 270 million people who call this vast and diverse archipelago nation home are Muslim, though there are also sizable Christian and Hindu minorities and the country prides itself on a state ideology known as “Pancasila,” which stresses inclusivity.

The constitution guarantees a secular government and freedom of religion, and criminal law is largely based on a secular code inherited from the former Dutch colonial power – though the province of Aceh adopts and implements sharia law – and Islamic principles influence some civil matters and local level by-laws.

However, more conservative forms of Islam that were once repressed under the former dictator Suharto have in recent years emerged as increasingly powerful forces at the ballot box.

In the most recent general election, in 2019, President Joko Widodo controversially picked an elderly Islamic cleric – Ma’ruf Amin – as his running mate in a move that was widely seen as a move to secure more Muslim votes.

The appointment of Ma’ruf raised eyebrows among Widodo’s more moderate supporters, but it helped see off the challenge from the former military general Prabowo Subianto who had forged an alliance with hardline Islamist groups. Some of those groups had already demonstrated their clout by leading mass protests that led to the toppling of the Jakarta governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, on a blasphemy charge.

The new criminal code – which updates the code inherited from the Dutch and was passed unanimously by lawmakers belonging to multiple parties – also reflects this growing influence of conservative Islam. Some conservative parties had been calling for an even stricter code, but previous proposals sparked mass street protests and were shelved after Widodo intervened.

Describing the new code as a “compromise”, Indonesian officials have said it needed to reflect a spread of interests in a multicultural and multi-ethnic country.

Still, while the new code clearly has the backing of many conservative voters, critics paint it as a step backwards for civil liberties in what is still a fledgling democracy.

Indonesia spent decades under strong-man rule after declaring its independence from the Dutch in the 1940s, under its first president Sukarno and later under the military dictator Suharto. It was not until after Suharto’s downfall in 1998 that it entered a period of reformation in which civilian rule, freedom of speech and a more liberal political environment were embraced.

Rights groups fear the new code risks undoing some of that progress by pandering to the conservative religious vote at the expense of the country’s secular ideals and reinforcing discrimination against women and the LGBTQ community. They also fear its longer-term effects could be corrosive to the democratic system itself and see uncomfortable parallels to the country’s authoritarian past.

Aspects of the code relating to insulting the president or the state ideology could, they say, be abused by officials to extort bribes, harass political opponents and even jail journalists and anyone deemed critical of the government.

“It is never a good thing when a state tries to legislate morality,” said Zachary Abuza, a professor specializing in Southeast Asian politics and security issues at the National War College in Washington, DC. “The new code puts civil liberties at risk and gives the state powerful tools to punish ideological, moral and political offenses.”

One political blogger, who asked not to be identified for fear of persecution under the new laws, told CNN that he expected online surveillance and censorship by the authorities to increase.

“The terms are not clear – that’s what makes the code especially scary and dangerous,” he said. “It’s all left to interpretation by the government.”

He gave the example of someone liking a critical tweet about the president, asking if that would be enough to land the person in jail.

“It will boil down to whoever the government wants to prosecute,” the blogger said.

It will be at least three years until the revised code comes into effect, according to officials, so it is still early to predict how the new laws will be implemented and enforced.

Much may depend on how satisfied more conservative voters are with the “compromise” code – or how angry those who protested on the streets against its earlier formulation remain.

At the same time, there are those who question whether lawmakers have made the mistake of listening only to the loudest voices in an attempt to pick up votes.

Norshahril Saat, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said there was a “complex relationship between Islam, politics, and society in Indonesia.”

He pointed to a 2022 national survey commissioned by the institute that found most respondents considered themselves moderate and supported the idea of a secular state – even though more than half of them also felt it was important to elect a Muslim leader.

Norshahril cautioned against concluding that support for the new criminal code was evidence of “a conservative Islamic tide.”

“It may mean that the current slate of elected politicians are conservative but more likely that they are responding to pressure from some powerful conservative lobby groups,” he said.

Of more concern, he said, is that “in today’s Indonesia, all of the political parties unanimously agreed on criminalizing these ‘sins’.”

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The Los Angeles Chargers have played a majority of this season without possibly their best defensive player – they clinched a playoff spot last week

Sounds like a good time to get a four-time Pro Bowler back.

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Joey Bosa has been activated from injured reserve and is expected to play for Los Angeles on Sunday in their Week 17 matchup against the L.A. Rams.

Bosa suffered a groin injury in Week 3 against the Jacksonville Jaguars and needed surgery to repair a muscle. He was designated to return from IR earlier this week.

The 27-year-old has made each of the last three Pro Bowls and won the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2016. He was the third overall pick of that year’s draft out of Ohio State. His younger brother, Nick, was the second pick the following season.

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Bosa had 1.5 sacks in the Chargers’ Week 1 win over the Las Vegas Raiders – he has 59.5 in 82 career games, reaching double-digit sacks in four seasons.

NFL Network initially reported that Bosa’s injury would require a six-week recovery, but Bosa will have missed just over three months.

After their contest against the Rams, the Chargers will head to Denver to close out their season against the Broncos. They are currently the sixth seed in the AFC, which at this point would match them up with the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Keenan Cahill, the YouTube star who created viral lip-syncing videos with celebrities including Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and 50 Cent, has died. He was 27.

The social media personality, who was diagnosed with the rare genetic disorder Maroteaux Lamy Syndrome at the age of 1, died Thursday after developing complications following a recent open-heart surgery, according to a GoFundMe set up by his family. 

“We are sad to announce the passing of Keenan Cahill,” a post on Cahill’s official Facebook page read. 

It continued, “Keenan is an inspiration and let’s celebrate by remembering all the content he created, artists he collaborated with, music he produced and the love he had for everyone who supported him over the years.”

YOUTUBE STAR COREY LA BARRIE DEAD ON 25TH BIRTHDAY AFTER CAR CRASH, DRIVER ARRESTED

The GoFundMe was organized by Cahill’s aunt Katie Owens, the sister of his mother Erin Cahill, in order to pay for the costs of his medical and funeral expenses. 

“We are devastated to announce that our nephew, Keenan Cahill, passed away on December 29th at the age of 27,” Owens wrote on GoFundMe. “Twelve days earlier he had open heart surgery and was starting to recover, but complications arose that he couldn’t overcome.”

She continued, “Keenan had Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome, which is a progressive condition that causes many tissues and organs to enlarge, become inflamed or scarred, and eventually waste away.” 

“He was first diagnosed at the age of 1. Because of his rare disease, he has had countless surgeries over his short life including a bone marrow transplant.”

Born in Elmhurst, Illinois, Cahill became one of the first YouTube stars after rising to fame with his popular lip-syncing videos that he began posting on the platform in 2010. Cahill’s channel currently has 725,000 subscribers and over 500 million views. His first video, in which he lip-synced to Katy Perry’s hit song “Teenage Dream,” went viral and has 58 million views. The clip caught Perry’s attention, and she reached out to Cahill. 

The two met in 2011 during her California Dreams tour and the pop superstar joined Cahill for a duet of “Teenage Dream” that was posted on his YouTube channel.

In November 2010, 50 Cent appeared in a video on Cahill’s channel in which the two lip-synced to the rapper’s song with Jeremih “Down on Me.”

Other stars who collaborated in videos with the internet celebrity included Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, Nick Cannon, David Guetta, Jason Derulo, Tyra Banks and DJ Pauly D.

In 2011, Cahill appeared with Jennifer Aniston in a commercial for SmartWater. Cahill also joined electronic music duo LMFAO on stage for a performance at the 2011 American Music Awards.

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The Youtuber appeared along with Adam Levine, Sia and Ryan Tedder in the music video for Sara Bareilles’ 2011 song “Uncharted.”

Owens noted on the GoFundMe page that Cahill “never made a lot of money, but he enjoyed what he was doing and brought smiles to the faces of so many people.”

After news of his passing broke, Pauly D shared a tribute to Cahill on Twitter. He posted a photo of himself with Cahill and wrote, “Rip Keenan. Thank You for always making the world smile.”

Perez Hilton shared a video of his duet with Cahill featuring the Maroon 5 song “Moves Like Jagger” and tweeted, “Rest in Love.”

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Pro-life crisis pregnancy centers have endured vandalism and attacks at the hands of ravenous protesters angered by the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the events leading up to it.

These centers have been villainized by Democrats, but mothers who’ve been helped by them say nothing could be further from the truth.

Two crisis pregnancy centers in and around the nation’s capital, the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center in Washington, D.C., and Life First in Manassas, Virginia, opened their doors to Fox News Digital to share how they are helping women and families in the nascent stages of building their lives.

PRO-CHOICE PROTESTERS DISRUPT CAPITOL HILL CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER’S BANQUET SCREAMING ‘BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS’

“My experience happened over a decade ago, so my oldest now is 11, so when I was pregnant, I came through Life First — formerly known as CareNet back then,” Alana Jenkins, a mother helped by Life First said.

Jenkins, a mother of five including her youngest, Rip, said she considered abortion when she was unexpectedly pregnant with her first but chose to keep her child after visiting with Life First.

“It was scary, you know, I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting other than they offered free services I wanted to take advantage of,” Jenkins said. “I had already decided of having an abortion, but my husband and I decided that we wanted to get more information and a sonogram at the time to confirm I was pregnant.”

Jenkins said she “was greeted with nothing but love” from the staff at Life First and that it was “amazing” to see where her experience at the center “led to.”

“It was great to feel that comfort and love through professionalism, guiding me through the steps,” Jenkins said. “Not what I wanted to hear, but the education of what having a baby was all about, the steps, the process.”

“They offered support, which was huge for me for making my final decision, because I was scared, financially, we were not in a position for bringing on a child,” she continued. “But, again, with their professionalism and their support and what they offered, it was amazing.”

Jenkins said her pregnancy was confirmed by the center with a sonogram and that her time at the center led to a “step-by-step process” to help her and her budding family with what they needed.

Ten years and five kids later, Jenkins and her husband have made their home in Vint Hill, Virginia, where they own a CrossFit gym.

Jenkins said she fell out of contact with Life First after her first experience with them, but reconnected with the clinic after Life First CEO Becky Sheetz visited her gym promoting a church “sit-up” challenge fundraiser and shared her experience with the center.

“Anytime they need help, anything I can do of service, like here just explaining my experience and what the result of their assistance has done for my kids, my life, hopefully now for others,” Jenkins said.

Niya, a mother helped by Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center, initially visited to find out if she was pregnant. After confirming she was pregnant, the center gave her counseling and resources.

Niya was considering abortion at first, as she felt she “wasn’t ready” to be a mother, but knew she had to “get ready” and decided to keep her baby, Amara, after visiting with Maloney.

The team at Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center explained all the options for her baby that Niya could choose, such as raising the child or placing the child up for adoption, instead of going through an abortion.

“After that, I left, [Jamie] gave me a few pamphlets about adoption, giving your child to somebody else, a family that might want them,” Niya said. “And she was emailing me and stuff, checking on me. She sent me a gift for my baby, I told her I was going to keep it, and she’s just been in contact with me since.”

Both centers help new parents get on their feet through counseling and professional placement help, ensuring that the budding families have a steady source of income.

Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center, while not currently providing medical procedures such as ultrasounds, provides faith-based counseling to expectant mothers who may be considering abortion.

The center was hit with vandalism in the wake of the Supreme Court leak of the opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. They were hit with red paint, eggs, and graffiti reading “Jane Says Revenge.”

Janet Durig, executive director of Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center, told Fox News Digital the center’s staff felt “violated” by the vandalism and it “comes back to people misunderstanding what pregnancy centers like ours do, or they really understand it and think it’s awful to help people.”

Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center’s annual banquet was interrupted by protesters who disrupted Durig while she was speaking on the work the center performs. The protest led to the center upping their security presence.

Durig said she was called by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who told her that the protesting group, ShutdownDC, had been chattering about the banquet protest on social media.

The protesters inside the banquet had sat at the table with one mother, Niya, and her child as well as the center’s director of client and volunteer services, Jamie Maloney and dug into the meal provided to attendees before interrupting the event.

“They ate our meal, they ate our hors d’vours, they ate our meal, and even commented on how good it was from other people I’ve been told — and so did the other protesters, by the way,” Durig said in regards to the protesters.

“And then sat right next to Niya, the mother testimony-giver and her baby, and seemed to feel comfortable standing up and protesting the center,” Durig added.

Durig said the protest was mostly a lot of yelling, but nobody could “explain” to her how they have “blood” on their hands when they are “helping people who choose to give birth to their baby.”

“They want to have their baby, we don’t force that on anyone, and we don’t force that choice on anyone,” Durig said. “Where is the blood on our hands because that woman has chosen to keep her baby?”

Durig also noted that mothers coming to the clinic were “disconcerted” by the protests but they “all felt everything was under control” when handling the protest at the banquet.

She also said she believes that the protesters misunderstand what the center and others like it provide to families, such as job counseling.

Life First was also hit by vandalism prior to their move to their Manassas location “on the day that Roe v. Wade was overturned” at their old location, but CEO Becky Sheetz said the protesters tagged the back side of the building that is not as visible.

Sheetz also said the vandalism was not the reason behind the move.

“We came in one day and there was vandalism, graffiti, on the back of the center, on the side that we operated the building, so we reported it to local law enforcement right away and it was cleaned up,” Sheetz said.

“It was actually just graffiti, clearly targeted along the lines of the graffiti and vandalism that you were seeing all across the nation in the tens and tens, over 100 pregnancy centers that were vandalized,” she continued.

Sheetz said the vandalism was “intimidating” but that it was “comical” that the tagging happened on the back of the building that “none” of their “patients or visitors would ever see.”

“That was the best they had that day,” Sheetz added, noting that, in the wake of the vandalism, the staff and center were operating “business as usual.”

“So that didn’t change, the mission doesn’t change, so it made us feel like we were probably on the right track because we’re doing good work and we’re having an impact,” Sheetz said.

Additionally, both centers provide material goods and services to struggling mothers and families, carrying children’s clothes, diapers, and other necessities that are given to families that visit the center.

Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center provides baby formula and car seats, as well as approved baby playpens and crib analogues. They are also planning to get their own ultrasound up and running.

“We help them with material support, which is very important, but we also help them with free childbirth classes and free parenting classes,” Durig told Fox News Digital.

“They could call at any time to the client advocates, especially the ones they know, but anyone can fit in if they’re not available,” Durig continued. “… They know this is someone they can call.”

First Care Women’s Health Woodbridge Center director Pam Dudley told Fox News Digital that their clinic sees “women from all different nationalities, all different backgrounds and walks of life, but one thing that they all have in common when they walk through our doors is they’re facing an unplanned pregnancy.”

She also said that the center “partners with dozens of organizations that help with things like food and clothing and diapers and formula and housing, even,” as well as organizations that provide “free prenatal care, in some cases.”

“We could almost connect her with anything because of all partnering organizations that we work with,” Dudley said, adding their centers also provides prenatal and parenting classes “at no cost” to the mother.

While they don’t distribute car seats and baby formula, Dudley said First Care Women’s Health can connect mothers with organizations that do “so they can get a free car seat, they can get free formula.”

Sheetz said their product carrying comes down to “shelf life,” “storage,” and other similar factors, so First Care Women’s Health gives “away other items like diapers and wipes and goods like that, that we can keep and can have in a steady supply.”

Dudley said that the clinic looks to “empower women with all of their information” who are facing unexpected pregnancies and will try to be a “calming voice” for the mother over the phone. The service will then confirm with the women that they are pregnant when they come into the center.

Life First also provides faith-based counseling, but has a registered nurse on staff, Linda Kisha, who performs ultrasounds and keeps track of patient information on their First Care Women’s Health side of the operation.

“We talk to them about the ultrasound and how important that is as part of their decision-making process,” Dudley told Fox News Digital. “Many of them call and they’re looking for the abortion pill or they’re saying ‘I can’t have a baby right now.’”

“So all of us are trained to talk to them on the phone and explain our services and to get them to come in, especially to have an ultrasound,” Dudley said. “Because she needs to know that it’s a pregnancy that’s going to continue, and she needs to know how far along she is so that she knows how to make that next step.”

Dudley said the staff at the center will listen to the mothers; stories and “many times” the staff at First Care Women’s Health are the first people the mothers reach out to for help.

“We want to be that safe place, that nonjudgmental place, that caring place that she can come and learn about all her options,” Dudley said. “She may feel like abortion is her only option when she first comes in, but we can explain that she has does other options and how that would work.”

Kisha told Fox News Digital the First Care Women’s Health clinic provides medically-administered pregnancy tests, ultrasounds to “confirm her pregnancy” and if the baby is viable, as well as tests for the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) gonorrhea and Chlamydia.

“These are all things the patient needs to know if she’s going to have an abortion,” Kisha said.

“And explain the abortion procedures to her, as well, depending on how far along she is, from a medical professional,” Sheetz added.

Dudley also encouraged people who know mothers struggling with an unplanned pregnancy to visit First Care Women’s Health.

“I always tell every patient I meet with, ‘I’m so glad you came in today,’” Dudley said. “And we mean that genuinely. We welcome anyone who desires our services, who needs a little help, who doesn’t feel like she has support, that’s what we do.”

“That’s why we’re here: we’re that safe place for her,” Dudley continued. “So we would just welcome her in this place and we also encourage an ongoing relationship with her, if she would allow us to do that.”

Amara joined her mother at the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center’s recent banquet, where Niya’s spoke on her experience with the center.

During the dinner, though, Niya’s speech recounting the counseling and help she received from the Capitol Hill Pregnancy Center was interrupted by protesters who had planted themselves in the crowd.

“That is all blood on your f—ing hands, every last motherf—ing one of you,” one woman screamed as security escorted her out of the event. “Jane says revenge motherf—er,” she added.

Niya said she had clocked the protesters when she showed up to the banquet but was unaware that three of the protesters were sitting next to her during the event.

“They were talking, I was talking, saying how I felt about the people outside and stuff like that, and they were listening. I think one of them did have something they really wanted to say, but she didn’t say anything,” Niya said about the protesters. “And then they just start standing up and yelling.”

Niya said she was “confused” by the protesters at first and that the protesters had been complimenting her child’s cuteness before interrupting the banquet.

“Like, I understood what they were saying, but at the same time, that’s not how you go about stuff,” Niya said. “I just felt like everybody got a mind of their own, I went to a pregnancy center and didn’t have a problem with it.”

The mothers, however, say other women in similar situations to them should explore their options at crisis pregnancy centers.

“Don’t be scared! Like, don’t be scared,” Niya said, encouraging other women in similar situations to visit crisis pregnancy clinics. “I just feel like we all have a responsibility, whether you’re pro-choice or not. And that’s something you want to do, you have to stand up for what you believe in and do it.”

“Nobody changed my mind on anything like that,” she continued. “I changed my own mind because I knew deep down inside that I wasn’t built for abortion. I really didn’t want to, but I also wasn’t ready at the same time. So, don’t be scared. Do what you want to do. Don’t let nobody tell you what’s right for you.”

“My definition of success was what I thought it was, and when I came in, I really, firmly believed for my success, I needed an abortion,” Jenkins said. “The place I was in my life, financially as a professional athlete back then, success and my plan ahead did not call for a kid. It just didn’t look like that would equate.”

“And when I was given the support, the education, the resources, all that, it was just amazing to see a different perspective,” she said. “And when I got that different perspective, that success can be many different ways, that, yes, a decision to keep a child is hard, but when you know there’s support and everything else out there, especially centers like Life First that offers that, it really is a huge enlightenment to go out there and just get educated.”

“And with Life First not judging and offering the professionalism, that they care, it makes a huge difference,” Jenkins continued. “So I challenge women to get out there and get educated, and go to center, take advantage of centers, that offer their services.”

Fox News Digital’s Kristine Parks contributed reporting.

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