Ana, head of the Pro-Life Shelter: I had an abortion and I can talk about how bad it is

Dator is the first business accredited in Spain for the practice of abortion. Just 50 steps from its door, diagonally, three years ago the Pro-Life Shelteran initiative of the Right to Live platform.

On December 28, the documentary premiered The silent genocide, in which the work carried out in this place is made known, from which help is offered to mothers who are at risk of abortion and who come to Dator every day.

Ana Díaz, mother of several children, has been responsible for the Pro-Life Shelter for two years, although before that she was helping as a volunteer. And she had the courage to acknowledge for the first time in this documentary that she had an abortion in her youth.

“I have, unfortunately, both experiences. “I can talk about how bad it is to abort and how good it is to have children,” he explains simply in conversation with ACI Prensa, in the premises itself among dozens of children’s stuffed animals, information panels on the development of life and help material.

“I had an abortion when I was 20 and the truth is that I had a terrible time,” she summarizes when asked about her motivation for doing this work. “I did it a little bit crazy, without knowing what I was doing and I wish no one would do it.”

In fact, it is this experience that gives her the strength to tell women who are about to have an abortion: “it’s going to be very bad for you, you’re going to look bad, you’re not going to be able to continue your life as if nothing had happened.”

At the same time, she tries to express that motherhood “is the best gift” and that life is going to be much better with her children. “The best thing you can have is the love that you give to your children, the love that is born within you when you have a child,” he adds.

Until the premiere of the film, few knew Ana’s story, including among her relatives, with whom she had to talk.

“It has served for good. I think they understand me better now,” she describes, although she acknowledges that she still finds it difficult to share her experience: “It’s embarrassing and difficult, but I do it because I think it will help other mothers not to do it. As long as it helps a person to live, it will be worth it.”

Consequence of abortion: a huge void

Ana is no stranger to the consequences of abortion, beyond the death caused by the prenatally developing child, “a huge void within you,” which can be overcome: “Everything happens through God’s forgiveness,” she affirms.

After the premiere of the documentary, there have been many who have called Ana to encourage and thank her for her work, including mothers who have gone through the trauma of abortion: “I believe that God brings good out of evil and I believe that He is doing so.” with me”.

Ana denounces that abortion is sold “as a liberation,” although experience tells her that “you end up destroyed.” That’s why he wonders “how this society is going to end if this doesn’t stop.”

“I think that we women themselves are to blame, that we do not dare to say it, I no longer say in public, but among our circle,” she reflects on those who have gone through the trauma of abortion and, despite its consequences, remain silent. because of social pressure.

Aggressiveness of abortionists

The work they carry out is sometimes especially difficult and even unpleasant. Not in vain, the Pro-Life Shelter, since its inauguration, has been the subject of numerous acts of vandalism against the exterior signs and a certain level of aggressiveness is not uncommon—“they spit on us, they throw things at us”—against Ana and the shelter volunteers: “They have told me everything. “I don’t answer them.”

This attitude contrasts with the story defended by pro-abortion platforms and the Government in which the work of pro-life volunteers is equated to the crime of harassment.

Ana manages to start conversations every day with six or seven pregnant girls who are considering abortion. Others do not speak to them or reject the brochure that is offered to them. “We don’t harass anyone. “I have never had a problem,” he says, nor has he received a formal complaint of harassment.

“I try to kindly tell them that I want to help them, that I want to give information. Most of the time they thank me, even if they don’t want the information,” he summarizes.

A family of volunteers and rescued mothers

At the Pro-Life Shelter, which is supported by donations, about 35 volunteers collaborate, including everything from housewives to lawyers and psychologists.

Some go to the store to sort clothes and other belongings that are given to mothers in difficulty and others follow up on the cases, often by telephone from their homes.

In connection with other support groups for mothers facing the crisis of an unexpected pregnancy, they help them in different ways with food, clothing, medical assistance, legal help, training or job search.

From time to time, they organize breakfasts in which volunteers and mothers who escaped abortion, along with their children, meet and share experiences.

“We try to make it a meeting place, so that mothers can come whenever they want to have a coffee with me, so that they can tell me what their mother has told them about the pregnancy, emotional support… so that it is a place that is open to them,” Ana summarizes. .

In the last two years, Ana estimates that 50 mothers and their children have been rescued. “It seems like a lot, but there aren’t that many” because 15 or 20 enter Dator every day, he estimates.

The majority of those who allow themselves to be helped come from Latin American countries. “In Spain they have the clear belief that this (abortion) is a right and that it is a good thing,” he emphasizes.