Pro-life marches in Germany and Slovakia saw stunning turnouts last weekend, with 40,000 people attending one march in the Slovakian city of Košice. “Keep up your witness. Your steadfast determination will bring down the mask of lies that our opponents need to work constantly to maintain”, SPUC’s CEO told a pro-life crowd in Cologne.
SPUC CEO John Deighan addressed thousands of pro-lifers at the Marsch für das Leben (March for Life) in Cologne on Saturday. He emphasised the importance of such marches against a background of media blackout:
“We are contending with a media which is complicit in keeping the reality of the culture of death hidden from our fellow citizens.
“Marches in the UK get almost no coverage.
“But now the streets are our media. We can see that we are not alone. Many thousands of us know the truth.”
Thousands of pro-life Germans marched at a similar event in Berlin.
Meanwhile, SPUC’s Emmet Dooley, Education and Outreach Manager, attended the March for Life in Košice, Slovakia, where 40,000 pro-lifers gathered peacefully on Sunday. This year’s theme was “Love is pro-life”.
"If we love someone, we want them to be protected”, said event organiser Patrik Daniška.
Up to ten thousand men and women attended the UK March for Life in London on 7 September, including many SPUC supporters and staff.
Abortion in Slovakia had been falling since 1989 until 2022, when it increased to 5,891. In Germany, there were 104,000 abortions in 2022, a 9.9% rise in twelve months.
Meanwhile, in that same year, 252,122 abortions were recorded in England and Wales, a record high as the number of unborn deaths surged by 17% compared with the previous year.
“The greatest human rights issue of our time”
Daniel Frampton, SPUC’s Editorial Officer, said: “Marches like these show individual pro-lifers that they are not alone – we are part of a global movement testifying to the truth about abortion. This is the greatest human rights issue of our time.
“While pro-abortion mainstream media denies coverage to these marches, the increasing turnouts in Cologne, Košice and London cannot be ignored forever. The youth turnout was especially impressive.
“Unborn babies are under threat across Europe like never before as the political elite moves to enshrine abortion as a so-called human right, as we saw in France earlier this year. In the UK, the imposition of censorious buffer zones is also an alarming development.
“Given these unprecedented attacks on life, liberty and free speech, it’s vital that pro-lifers make their voice heard all the more. We must not be discouraged. Indeed, as the pro-life movement gains impetus, we should expect pushback from an elite that feels more and more insecure in its indefensible pro-abortion ideology.”