Cologne: Combative Protests Against Anti-Abortion March

We hereby share a translation that we received per e-mail of a report published on Dem Volke Dienen on September 20.

On Saturday, 19 September 2026, self-proclaimed “pro-life activists” called for their annual “Marches for Life” in Berlin, Cologne and Zurich (Switzerland).

A broad alliance of various women’s organisations and anti-fascist forces mobilised nationwide for counter-protests in Berlin and Cologne. The Red Women’s Movement also called for combative participation in these protests.

In previous years, there had repeatedly been blockades and other actions aimed at disrupting the march. For this reason, the police had already announced in advance that they intended to deploy a large contingent to protect the “pro-life activists’” march and ensure that it could go ahead.

Several hundred counter-protesters then faced a significantly smaller number of reactionaries on Saturday. Behind the seemingly harmless name “pro-life activists” are genuine reactionaries from bourgeois parties, Christian fundamentalists and other misogynists who, under the guise of protecting “unborn life”, demand the criminalisation of abortion.

The justified anger of numerous – and above all female – counter-protesters once again found expression this year in a number of combative actions, including a disruption in front of the reactionaries’ stage and smaller blockade actions.

Under the slogan “Abolish §218! Women, combat and resist!”, the comrades of the Red Women’s Movement participated resolutely and combatively in the protests, together with a large number of comrades. They distributed copies of the newspaper Klassenschwester and hundreds of leaflets calling for their demonstration. On placards and in short speeches, they denounced the reactionaries of the “March for Life”. They made clear that the right to abortion is a class issue, and that genuinely “protecting life” would mean fighting for women and children, for better healthcare and against poverty. Slogans expressing the justified struggle against patriarchy could be heard loudly throughout. During the protest more and more participants took part in the block.

The fact that the struggle for the legalisation of abortion, which has been going on for more than 150 years, continues to mobilise women strongly is also known to the reactionaries. Following the experiences of previous years, in which the march had repeatedly been blocked or the anti-abortion activists’ actions had otherwise been disrupted, the large deployment of armoured police units was supported by a surveillance drone in an attempt to intimidate the counter-protesters. Alongside the familiar Hamburg-style police barriers and the aforementioned large police presence, this represents a new level of repression at demonstrations concerned with the demand for a democratic right. During the counter-demonstration, the police repeatedly provoked protesters, accompanying large sections of the demonstration in formation, filming participants, shoving them and harassing them on their way home.

This did not, however, prevent the counter-protesters from loudly expressing their hatred of the “pro-life activists”, the cops and the patriarchy in general. On the contrary, the attacks by the cops were loudly denounced and fought back against. In keeping with the slogan of the Red Women’s Movement: Women, combat and resist!