Pro-life advocates in Spain recently celebrated the baptism of 15 babies at a Catholic church in Boadilla del Monte, a municipality outside Madrid. The children were born to mothers who had considered abortion but chose life after receiving compassionate support from two local ministries dedicated to helping women facing unexpected pregnancies.
According to the Spanish news outlet InfoVaticana, Bishop Ginés García Beltrán baptized the infants in a ceremony attended by volunteers from the two support organizations, Más Futuro and Juan Pablo II Rescuers. The baptisms were especially significant because the nonprofit groups report that their combined efforts have now helped nearly 9,000 women choose life for their babies.
Más Futuro (More Future) helps women who lack the financial resources or family support needed to raise a child. The ministry provides food, baby supplies, housing assistance, employment guidance and educational opportunities. Its commitment to mothers extends well beyond childbirth, with programs that help families become more financially stable, strengthen family relationships and provide educational scholarships for children.
Más Futuro also offers care to women who have experienced abortion, providing emotional and spiritual support to help them find hope and healing.
Juan Pablo II Rescuers is a volunteer movement whose members approach women near abortion facilities to offer alternatives and connect them with assistance through Más Futuro. Many of its volunteers are young adults who receive training through the group’s School of Rescuers program. The two ministries work closely together.
Their recent work comes as abortion numbers in Spain have continued to rise. According to the country’s Ministry of Health, 106,172 abortions were performed in 2024, a nearly 3% increase over the previous year. Abortions among women younger than 20 rose by almost 7%, with 11,699 reported that year.
In the InfoVaticana article, Marta Velarde, president of Más Futuro Association, praised the dedication of the volunteers who have helped so many women and families over the years. She emphasized that the baptisms were an important milestone, but they did not mark the end of the organization’s involvement in their lives.
Gabriela Guerra Toapanta is among the women who have received support from the two ministries. In a 2025 interview with InfoCatólica, she recalled meeting Marta Velarde outside an abortion facility in Madrid while considering abortion. Initially skeptical of the volunteers, Gabriela eventually came to trust them, although that pregnancy ended in miscarriage. When she later became pregnant with her daughter, Paula, and the child’s father did not want her to continue the pregnancy, Gabriela reached out to Velarde for help.
Gabriela said the ministries provided much more than material assistance. She praised the volunteers for staying involved in her life and making sure she and her daughter had what they needed. Gabriela expressed deep gratitude for their support and said becoming Paula’s mother had brought tremendous joy and meaning to her life.
The recent baptism in Spain and Más Futuro’s commitment to walking alongside women and families long after childbirth reflect the mission of Care Net and its network of more than 1,200 affiliated pregnancy centers across the United States and Canada.
Central to Care Net’s Pro Abundant Life vision is the belief that helping women choose life is only the beginning and that mothers, fathers and children need ongoing compassionate support and discipleship through a local church.
“It comes down to being the hands and feet of Jesus,” Roland Warren, president and CEO of Care Net, often says. “We are not going to solve the abortion issue if we don’t build strong families.”
Guest Articles
To submit a guest article to the Care Net blog, email press@care-net.org with an attached Word document between 800 and 1,000 words. Please include relevant photos as separate attachments if you own the rights to them. If your submission is selected for publication, our editorial team will reach out within three weeks. Guest contributions are voluntary. Thank you for your passion for life and interest in sharing your voice with the Care Net community!
Want to learn more about how Care Net and local pregnancy centers are providing holistic, life-affirming care across the nation?
Visit Care Net Free Resources to learn more and take your next step.