„March for Life“? – What the fuck?!
On September 19th 2020, the `March for Life´ takes place in Berlin. Despite the risk of spreading Covid-19, fivethousand self-proclaimed `life protectors´ want to take to the streets to fight bodily autonomy and abortion rights. Under the cover of the `pro-life´ label, the `March for Life´ cultivates a christian-fundamentalist worldview that doesn´t value every life as equally worthy of protection: this logic only considers the so-called unborn life, ignoring the pregnant people whose life would be threatened by an abortion ban. They stand for conservative gender roles, rigid sex morals, are homo- and transphobic and base all this on God and the bible.
In society in general we experience a surge of national-conservative and anti-feminist views. Anti-feminism functions as a link between reactionary forces from the Christian Democratic Party (CDU/CSU) to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and people involved in the far right. The spread of hatred against women, queer people/LGBTIQ* is on the rise, racism is rearing its ugly head more unabashedly every day.
We stand against these discriminatory positions and demand reproductive rights for all. The choice to terminate a pregnancy is an integral part of these rights. Because only when abortion is legalized, pregnant people can be protected from the deadly effects of unsafe abortions. In countries without safe access to abortions, we see high numbers of people dying during or due the aftereffects of unsafe procedures. Abortion bans don´t eradicate abortions – they kill.
A pandemic called patriarchy
Covid-19 functions as a magnifying glass, showing us why queer-feminist struggles are still important and necessary. Who works in the care sector? Who has to stay at home when schools are closed down? What happens when „home“ is not a safe space? How fast was Europe closed off even further? Whose life is considered expendable when resources get scarce? How was the pandemic used to push anti-emancipatory agendas (looking at you, sexwork-ban…)? Why should abortion suddenly not be considered anpart of healthcare?
If you´re also fed up with anti-feminist and nationalist bullshit, join our protests!
Upstage anti-feminism:
Legalize abortion – Stop femicides – Redistribute carework
September 19th | 1 pm | Different locations in Berlin Mitte
We fight
• for the right to terminate a pregnancy and accessible information (in terms of the law, this means eradicating §218 and §219 from the German criminal code)
• for abortions being included in the curriculum of medical training and hospitals being obliged to conduct them
• for abortions to be recognized as a normal medical procedure that is covered by health insurance and for abortions to be accessible to refugees
• for a pregnancy care that is based on the well-being of the pregnant person, not on the idea of a healthy “racial corpus”
• for a society that provides every person – with and without disablities – with the support they need
• for a society in which people of all genders and sexual desires can thrive and live without fear
If you agree with our demands, take to the streets with us on Saturday, September 19th and stand up for a solidary and emancipaory society and against the `March for Life´.
This year, our demands belong in the streets even more – even though many things are quite different now. We want to minimize the risk of infection and enable people who are at higher risk to take part in the protests.
Therefore: join our queer-feminist, actionist rallye. We start at 5 different spots in Berlin-Mitte – check whatthefuck.noblogs.org for more information. Let´s get loud, be present, carry our demands to the streets – (preferably) without physical contact with the fundamentalists or the police!
Let´s be careful with each other, so we can be dangerous together! This also means: cover your nose and mouth (if you can), keep physical distance and be considerate. Let´s show everyone: feminism protects lives!