Christian Democrats for Life

Christian Democrats for Life (CDL) is a nationwide initiative founded in 1985 with over 5,000 members, including numerous members of the Bundestag and Landtag . It is close to the Union parties and is part of the movement for the right to life within the framework of a Christian image of man . The CDL federal office is located in Nordwalde near Münster .

History and way of working

The CDL deals primarily with the topic of abortion and deals with current bioethical issues such as PGD , euthanasia , post-abortion syndrome , family policy and medical or reproductive cloning . The CDL was founded in 1985 by members of the Union parties , which advocate the unrestricted protection of human embryos, especially against interventions based on medical, parental or scientific interests. The Christian Democrats for Life see themselves “committed to the Christian image of man”.

Both at the federal level and at the European level, the Christian Democrats for Life work together with other organizations of the right to live movement and are part of the Federal Association for the Law of Life . The CDL acted as the organizer of the “March for Life” in Annaberg-Buchholz until the organizers founded the “Saxony Right to Live” association in 2016.

Although the CDL was a special organization of the Union parties, membership for non-party members is made possible. Several times a year, the members of the CDL are informed by post through the member newspaper CDL Aktuell . There is also a right to life newsletter. Membership fees can be raised according to the statutes, but this is currently voluntary.

On August 27, 2018, the presidium and federal executive committee of the CDU revoked the status of the Christian Democrats for Life, the Economic Council of the CDU and the Values Union as special organizations of the party.

Officials and well-known members

Federal Executive

The board of directors of the CDL is composed of the executive board, the assessors and the chairmen of the regional associations.

Federal chairwoman Mechthild Löhr
Honorary chairwoman Johanna Countess von Westphalen (1936–2016)
Deputy Chair Odila Carbanje
Deputy Chairman Hubert Hüppe , former Member of the Bundestag and Federal Government Commissioner for the interests of people with disabilities
Deputy Chairwoman Sophia Kuby
Secretary Hildegard Bosch
Treasurer Jürgen Boyxen
Press and public relations officer Susanne Wenzel

Regional associations

Baden-Württemberg regional association: Chairman Josef Dichgans
Regional Association of Bavaria: Chairwoman Christiane Lambrecht
Regional Association Berlin: Chairman Stefan Friedrich MA
Regional Association Hamburg: Chairman Hinrich E. Bues
Landesverband Hessen: Chairwoman Cornelia Kaminski (also on the federal board of the Aktion Lebensrecht für Alle as well as the federal association Lebensrecht and long-standing member of the board of trustees of the Yes to Life Foundation )
Lower Saxony regional association: Chairman Hinrich Rohbohm (editor of Junge Freiheit and deputy chairman of ValuesUnion )
Regional association of North Rhine-Westphalia: Chairwoman Odila Carbanje
Regional association of Rhineland-Palatinate: Chairman Stefan Grieser-Schmitz
Saarland regional association: Chairwoman Irene Schäfer
State Association of Saxony: Chairman Daniel Kästner
Schleswig-Holstein State Association: Chairman Christian Wilhelm Mann

Other well-known members

Axel W. Bauer (* 1955)
Monika Brudlewsky (* 1946)
Ansgar Focke (* 1982), member since 2005
Christian Hirte (* 1976)
Claus Jäger (1931–2013) was Deputy Chairman of the CDL State Association of Baden-Württemberg
Martin Kastler (* 1974)
Marlies Kohnle-Gros (* 1956), between 2005 and 2010 state chairwoman of the CDL Rhineland-Palatinate

Astrid Mannes (* 1967), in 2002 she became a member of the Federal Executive Committee of the Christian Democrats for Life (CDL), in 2004 she was the Hessian state chairwoman
Karl Michael Ortmann
Leo Peters (* 1944), archivist and historian
Roland Rösler (* 1943)
Jesko von Samson-Himmelstjerna (* 1973)
Marianne Würdinger (* 1934), member since 1985
Peter Tauber (* 1974), General Secretary of the CDU 2013 - 2018

Web links

CDL website

Individual evidence

↑ Ulli Jentsch: The "life protection" movement and the AfD. In: Alexander Häusler (Ed.): The Alternative for Germany: Program, Development and Political Location. Springer-Verlag, 2016, p. 102
↑ https://cdl-online.net/landesverbande/16
↑ quoted from the basic program, page 5, point 2 (PDF; 1.5 MB)
^ Bundesverband Lebensrecht: Information on the association ( memento of October 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 27, 2016
^ Demonstration in Annaberg-Buchholz: Protest against “March for Life”. In: taz.de . June 7, 2016, accessed July 27, 2016 .
↑ Entry form, with emphasis on the voluntary contribution (PDF; 4.2 MB)
↑ Cornelia Kaminski: Is diversity recently undesirable in the CDU? On: kath.net from August 28, 2018
↑ http://www.cdl-online.net/vorstand/15

[1] Ulli Jentsch: The "life protection" movement and the AfD. In: Alexander Häusler (Ed.): The Alternative for Germany: Program, Development and Political Location. Springer-Verlag, 2016, p. 102

[2] ttps://cdl-online.net/landesverbande/16

[3] quoted from the basic program, page 5, point 2 (PDF; 1.5 MB)

[4] Bundesverband Lebensrecht: Information on the association ( memento of October 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 27, 2016

[taz-5311446-5] Demonstration in Annaberg-Buchholz: Protest against “March for Life”. In: taz.de . June 7, 2016, accessed July 27, 2016 .

[6] Entry form, with emphasis on the voluntary contribution (PDF; 4.2 MB)

[7] Cornelia Kaminski: Is diversity recently undesirable in the CDU? On: kath.net from August 28, 2018

[8] ttp://www.cdl-online.net/vorstand/15