On June 24, 2022, the German parliament, the Bundestag, decided to abolish the punishment of advertising for abortions. From a gender policy perspective, this can be considered a success, although the decision cannot eliminate stigmatization and still growing hurdles in the practical implementation of the procedure. On the same day on the other side of the Atlantic, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated women’s rights for abortions. Deprived of their reproductive self-determination through this court verdict, many women are now likely to find themselves in illegal and threatening situations.

In Germany, too, the political implementation of the abolition of §219a StGB has been accompanied by massive public and media opposition. Proclaimed opponents of abortion have not shied away from closing ranks with right-wing anti-feminists and conspiracy ideologists in order to support their worldview and ideology. Internationally, we can observe that the clout of anti-feminist organizations is increasing; they are very well connected and networked across borders and seek proximity to parliaments. They gather in right-wing populist and right-wing conservative parties, in the camp of Christian anti-abortionists, in men‘s rights movements and in misogynist Internet forums. They form political majorities and governments.

Together with Cynthia Miller-Idriss, an US-American sociologist, Leni Breymaier, a member of the German Bundestag, Kamila Ferenc, a Polish women‘s rights activist and together with you we would like to discuss recent developments of anti-feminist networks in Europe and the USA and their connection to the German debate about the abortion paragraph 219a. How is it possible that in democracies with firmly established principles of equality, political movements are successful that attract attention through sexist and misogynistic behavior, hypermasculine performance, and anti-feminist politics?