"If many animal species are highly protected, including legally, why do we offer less protection to the lives of humans who are to be born?," said the spokesman for Spain's Episcopal Conference (CEE), Juan Antonio Martinez Camino.
He spoke at a news conference to present the anti-abortion campaign, which will include a "Day of Life" throughout the country on March 25.
The campaign is illustrated by a poster that shows a baby beside an Iberian lynx cub, a protected species in Spain, on which are the words "Protect the lynx." Above the baby is the caption "And me?" The top of the poster shows pictures of foetuses at various stages of development.
The poster is to be put up at 1,300 sites across the country.
The Socialist government plans to offer greater legal protection for women who wish to have an abortion and doctors who carry out the procedure.
Spain decriminalised abortion in 1985 but only for certain cases: up to 12 weeks of pregnancy after a rape; up to 22 weeks in the case of malformation of the foetus; and at any point if the pregnancy represents a threat to the physical or mental health of the woman.
The majority of abortions in Spain take place in private clinics and are justified on the grounds that the pregnancy posed a "psychological risk" for the health of the woman.
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Image from www.outandback.org.