MADRID, July 7, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The director of the Spanish pro-life group Fundacion Red Madre (Mother Net Foundation) told a press conference on July 5 that a vast majority of pregnant adolescent girls and women who receive help through her organization choose to continue their pregnancies.
Since Spain liberalized its abortion laws in July 2010, Carmina García-Valdés’ foundation has seen a 45 percent increase in girls under the age of 18 seeking assistance.
However, 80 percent of those who received support and counseling from Mother Net decided not to abort.
Mother Net Foundation has assisted more than 6,000 girls and women in crisis pregnancies since its founding in 2007.
In 2010, according to Mother Net, 53 percent of the 4,331 women and girls it assisted were between 14 and 20 years of age, compared to 18 percent for the same age group in 2009.
García-Valdés said there is enormous pressure on teenage girls and young women to abort, since the liberalized abortion laws allow for abortion on demand up to the 14th week of pregnancy and in some cases without parental notification. But she observed that most of the foundation’s clients – low-income immigrants between the ages of 20 and 40, and girls between 14 and 20 – “ do not wish to abort but are under pressure,” usually from family members.
“They don’t have time to think about it and now they ask us for psychological and psychiatric help.”
A young mother who spoke at the July 5 press conference said she felt betrayed by the liberal abortion law, but praised the help she received from Mother Net, which enabled her to continue her pregnancy and safely give birth to a baby girl.
“You are confused and what they support you most is to abort; but the best decision I have made is to have my daughter,” the young mother said.
“When a pregnant woman has the help she needs,” concluded García-Valdés, “she will go ahead. It may be that her situation is not resolved, but once she has her child she will have the tools necessary to forge ahead.”
Fundacion Red Madre is an organization that was created in 2007 in order to activate and develop a support network for advice, assistance and support to women in Spain in difficulty arising from an unplanned pregnancy. The network has trained volunteers throughout the country who provide personalized service to support women to continue their pregnancy and avoid abortion.
For more information on the Fundacion Red Madre visit their website (Spanish) here.