Overview

• The Bundesverband Lebensrecht held its annual demonstrations on Saturday in Berlin and Cologne, with about 5,000 participants reported at the Cologne march.
• Police said counterdemonstrators twice tried to halt the Cologne procession and that officers pushed them aside to keep it moving.
• Observers highlight the scene’s links to conservative religious networks and elements of the far right, with AfD figures previously present and party committees inviting anti-abortion advocates as experts.
• International guests included PAAU activists Caroline Smith and Lauren Handy, with Handy convicted over a 2020 clinic intrusion in Washington, D.C., and pardoned in early 2025.
• Feminist, medical, queer and left-wing groups organized counterprotests, while critics say the movement’s rhetoric masks efforts to curb abortion access and to expand influence through lobbying and youth outreach.