The Zaragoza City Council, led by the popular Natalia Chueca, has signed a collaboration agreement with RedMadre, an anti-abortion association, to offer comprehensive support to pregnant women. The signing of the agreement, initiated by Vox and endowed with an amount of 30,000 euros, was controversial due to the statements made by the president of the aforementioned association, who made an allegation of xenophobia in the face of the silence of the councilor for social policies, Marian Orós. In her speech, Rosa María Marquina, director of RedMadre, associated the arrival of immigrant babies with “an increase in the number of perverts, gang members and ghettos.”
“These are children who are getting lost and who are going to cause an increase in crime in this country,” Marquina explained in the municipal offices, with councilor Marian Orós sitting next to her. She did so after thanking Orós herself for the help of the Zaragoza City Council, in the hands of the PP: “Without your economic collaboration, this would be impossible,” the president of RedMadre told the popular councilor for social policies.
It should be remembered that RedMadre, which also has the support of other institutions governed by the PP such as the Junta de Andalucía, is one of the largest anti-abortion groups in Spain. Founded in 2007, the foundation defines itself on its website as a network aimed at helping women “overcome any conflict arising from an unplanned pregnancy.” In one of their sections of their website, entitled “Thinking about abortion,” they state that “from the first cell, the new human body is already formed” and they assure that “the aborted fetus suffers” because “it has a feeling of survival” and escapes the instruments “of surgical procedures that harm it during the abortion.” They also talk about “post-abortion trauma” through testimonies.
The Minister of Social Policies, Marian Orós, presented this initiative together with Vox Councillor Eva Torres and the president of RedMadre Zaragoza. According to the press release published by the Zaragoza City Council, this project envisages “a comprehensive coverage of the needs of each user, in a personalised way, both in emotional, training and care matters. To do this, a diagnosis of the needs of each woman and a support itinerary are initially carried out. The objective is to accompany and advise motherhood in complete safety, but also to offer professional guidance to facilitate the employability and autonomy of women.
Marquina recalled that “those who contribute most to births are not Spanish mothers, but those who arrive in Spain.” “Almost all of them arrive pregnant,” he said. And he explained that the RedMadre association “tries to accompany them and help them, both financially and psychologically.” At the same time, Marquina said, its objective is “to try to integrate them into Spanish culture.” “They must preserve their culture, but adapt to the country they arrive in,” insisted the president of RedMadre.
Torres said that in Aragon births have reached a “historical minimum”, so “this agreement is a decisive and shameless commitment to defend motherhood and protect life.” He also said that RedMadre allows “women with unexpected pregnancies to have true and accurate information about the physical and psychological risks associated with abortion, offering them assistance and alternatives. Abortion, in some cases, replaces contraceptive measures, but in others it is motivated by causes of difficulty.
