An additional child is spared from abortion by pro-life supporters
Her mom had planned to abort her, but a campaign of prayer altered that.
To protect her identity, we won’t use the mother’s real name. Instead, we will call her Mercedes, after the title of the Virgin Mary as the patroness of the Dominican Republic, where she comes from.
She was 21 years old when she got pregnant for the second time last August. She had told her friends that she had “lost” her first pregnancy, which was from a relationship with an abusive man, after “falling down the stairs.” But those who knew the father had their doubts…
Ana, a “guardian angel” of 40 Days for Life
A friend of hers had given her Ana’s phone number a few weeks before that miscarriage. Ana was a “guardian angel” of the Spanish pro-life organization 40 Days for Life (40DPV in Spanish). This movement is based on prayer, but it also has people who support and accompany (as “guardian angels”) mothers in difficulty who choose to continue their pregnancy. In fact, that same friend had had a baby with the help of Ana and the 40DPV movement.
And even though Mercedes ended up losing that baby, Ana stayed in touch with her to help her with the many challenges she faced every day.
Single, working as a waitress in a nightclub…
Mercedes found out she was pregnant again at the start of last fall. Everyone around her told her to abort. Ana explains why she faced so much pressure:
She was in a very bad economic situation. She wasn’t sure who the father was, but it was probably a man who wasn’t even her boyfriend. And although he didn’t abuse her like the other one did, he had a very unhealthy relationship with her and had refused to take responsibility for the baby. Besides, she worked as a waitress at a nightclub in Madrid, and they would fire her as soon as they knew she was pregnant.
Overwhelmed by her situation, Mercedes made an appointment to abort her second baby. What she didn’t know was that, right then, the 40 Days for Life movement was starting one of its prayer campaigns. That would change everything.
Saved from abortion “by prayer” Ana explains:
At 40 Days for Life, we know that all saves are the result of prayer, even if they aren’t women who literally stop next to volunteers praying at the doors of an abortion clinic. Because those of us who pray to God for life to prevail over abortion, do so asking Him to guide and help all pregnant women in difficulty, and offering ourselves so that He can use us if He wants to.
It takes a lot of bravery and clarity to face situations as hard as those faced by many of the women we help. And although we’re here for them, in the end it is they who have to make the decision to give their child the chance to live. That’s why they need God to guide them and take away their fears.
And that was exactly what happened in Mercedes’ case. Hundreds of volunteers of all ages were undertaking a campaign of prayer shifts — uninterrupted, peaceful, and silent — in front of abortion clinics all over Spain. Meanwhile, against all odds and with no one to support her, Mercedes felt in her heart the desire to ask for help. The abortion appointment had already been set, but Mercedes picked up the phone and called Ana.
Complete help for pregnant women
You might expect this story to end after the birth of Mariana, who now babbles, laughs, cries, and wakes up in her crib like any other baby.
However, the ending is even happier. Because, as Ana points out, “contrary to what many abortionists say, pro-lifers are not indifferent to women; quite the opposite.”
For this reason, today Mercedes has started a new life. She now lives in a coastal city, with a new job, a new apartment, and all the material and economic support that she and her daughter will need for the next years. In part this is thanks to the collaboration of Ana, the spiritual help of 40 Days for Life, and the generous support of various pro-life associations in Madrid, such as Red Madre. However, they are not the main cause.
Because, as Ana, who is the godmother of several children saved from abortion, concludes: “The defense of life and the defeat of abortion is something so humanly impossible in our society, that every baby born is first and foremost thanks to God, who never forsakes those who ask for his help.”
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