Overview

• Union MPs withdrew support for the SPD-nominated constitutional judge, citing her liberal stance on abortion and halting the Bundestag vote.
• SPD leaders insist on reconvening the vote despite Union resistance and warn that a Bundesrat fallback may be the only way to fill the court vacancy.
• Union and SPD factions now disagree on the coalition contract’s abortion clause, with the SPD pushing for universal insurance funding and Union members favoring income-limited coverage.
• Over 300 legal scholars have criticized the Union’s refusal as defamatory and damaging to the independence of the Bundesverfassungsgericht.
• Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf says she has received email death threats, suspicious postal items and online attacks as part of a coordinated right-wing disinformation campaign.