‘Pro-life’ as a gateway for the far-right

The Pro-Choice Alliance Munich quite rightly describes the local “March for Life” as a right-wing demonstration. Of course, it would be simplistic to classify all supporters of the so-called ‘pro-life’ movement as right-wing or far-right, but ideological overlaps, personal connections and strategic intersections with far-right, Christian fundamentalist and conservative circles are obvious. The movement presents itself as emphatically bourgeois and moral – but its image is crumbling. It is becoming increasingly clear that ‘pro-life’ does not serve ethical goals alone, but also opens the door to reactionary social agendas.

Radicalisation and international influences
A key factor in this radicalisation is the close international networking of the scene. In countries such as the USA and Poland, Holocaust relativisation, conspiracy narratives about ‘abortion lobbies’ and racist patterns of argumentation have long been part of the standard repertoire. These discourses are also being adopted in Germany. For example, Matt Britton of the US group ‘40 Days for Life’ declared in Munich in 2023 that Germany was importing refugees while at the same time ‘killing German babies’ – a clearly racist narrative. Problematic statements were also made at subsequent marches. As Isabel Vaughan-Spruce did in 2024, Franciscan Father Paulus Tautz relativised the Holocaust in his speech in 2025.

The ‘pro-life’-movement offers the far-right an ideal gateway to spread its authoritarian, biopolitical agenda under a moral guise. The fight against abortion is linked to ethno-nationalist and anti-feminist ideologies. Control over fertile bodies goes hand in hand with demands for the exclusion and mass deportation of people with a migration background. In this way, ‘protection of life’ becomes the focal point of authoritarian, racist and anti-feminist politics. Under the pretext of moral outrage, an order based on control, exclusion and subjugation is defended – with far-reaching consequences for all those who are not included in this order.

The ‘March for Life’ as part of an international culture war
The Munich ‘March for Life’ is part of an international culture war against reproductive self-determination – supported by a network of Christian fundamentalist, conservative and right-wing actors. Behind morally charged slogans lies the goal of rolling back feminist and democratic achievements.

Actors such as ‘Stimme der Stillen’ (Voice of the Silent), ‘1000plus’, ‘ProLife Europe’ and ‘Alliance Defending Freedom’ (ADF) operate professionally and are transnationally networked. Terms such as ‘human dignity’ and ‘women's rights’ are instrumentalised to make reactionary politics socially acceptable. The CDU/CSU also legitimises parts of this agenda, for example by structurally refusing to offer support to women with unwanted pregnancies.

The movement is increasingly presenting a united front – with traditional Catholic groups such as the Pius or Petrus Brotherhood, right-wing media such as ‘Corrigenda’ and actors from the far-right, such as AfD politicians and ‘identitarian’ activists. ‘Protecting life’ is becoming a code word for an authoritarian order in which women are expected to fulfil traditional roles and queer people are to be excluded from public space.

Transnational strategies and financial networks
Feminist struggles are confronted by a strategically acting alliance of religious and political actors. According to the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) (https://www.epfweb.org/node/837), between 2009 and 2018, around 707 million US dollars flowed into European anti-gender initiatives – financed by the US, Russia and Europe, among others. The ‘March for Life’ in Munich is also part of these international structures.

The US lobby group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is close to Trump, plays a central role. Through its subsidiary organisation ADF International, it networks, advises and finances anti-choice campaigns worldwide – increasingly also influencing EU institutions. On the eve of the 2025 Munich march, ADF organised a ‘discussion evening’ on ‘freedom of expression’ – with well-known figures such as Kristijan Aufiero, Silja Fichtner and Hermann Binkert (INSA). Venue: the Bayernsaal in the Haus der Bayerischen Wirtschaft (Bavarian Chamber of Commerce) in Munich.

The staging of anti-feminist positions as human rights issues follows a strategy of the ‘Agenda Europe’ network. This alliance, initiated by right-wing Catholic forces, has been pursuing the targeted rollback of equality, anti-discrimination and reproductive rights for years. It is based on the manifesto Restoring the Natural Order, which explicitly describes how these rights are to be undermined. (A detailed analysis can be found here)

CitizenGo, a Spanish ultra-conservative platform, was also prominently represented at the Munich march. Its Germany director, Eduard Pröls, marched at the front of the banner for part of the time. CitizenGo has been providing infrastructure for global anti-feminist and queer-hostile activism for years.

Right-wing Catholic media openly call for participation. For example, the magazine Der Fels – published by the Forum Deutscher Katholiken (FDK) – promoted the march in its April issue. The FDK is considered a gathering place for conservative clerics, aristocrats and Catholic traditionalists who represent a reactionary view of family and society.

Not an isolated case, but an organised attack
The ‘March for Life’ is not an isolated phenomenon, but rather an expression of a strategically led, internationally networked culture war. Under the guise of ‘protecting life,’ religious and political forces are working to roll back fundamental rights such as bodily autonomy and equality. The close links with right-wing, queer-hostile and conspiracy-ideological milieus show that the attack on reproductive rights is part of a broader attack on an open, pluralistic and solidarity-based society.

se discourses are also being adopted in Germany. For example, Matt Britton of the US group ‘40 Days for Life’ declared in Munich in 2023 that Germany was importing refugees while at the same time ‘killing German babies’ – a clearly racist narrative. Problematic statements were also made at subsequent marches. As Isabel Vaughan-Spruce did in 2024, Franciscan Father Paulus Tautz relativised the Holocaust in his speech in 2025.

The ‘pro-life’-movement offers the far-right an ideal gateway to spread its authoritarian, biopolitical agenda under a moral guise. The fight against abortion is linked to ethno-nationalist and anti-feminist ideologies. Control over fertile bodies goes hand in hand with demands for the exclusion and mass deportation of people with a migration background. In this way, ‘protection of life’ becomes the focal point of authoritarian, racist and anti-feminist politics. Under the pretext of moral outrage, an order based on control, exclusion and subjugation is defended – with far-reaching consequences for all those who are not included in this order.

The ‘March for Life’ as part of an international culture war
The Munich ‘March for Life’ is part of an international culture war against reproductive self-determination – supported by a network of Christian fundamentalist, conservative and right-wing actors. Behind morally charged slogans lies the goal of rolling back feminist and democratic achievements.

Lina Dahm has been monitoring the „March for Life“ in Munich for five consecutive years. This text is a translation from her blog ‚Antifeministische Allianzen‘ (Antifeminist Alliances)

Redaktion: Ulli Jentsch