(LifeSiteNews) — Human rights advocacy group ADF International has criticized a pro-abortion report that smeared pro-life groups as “religious extremists.”
The report was published in June by the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF), an EU-affiliated pro-abortion group funded by the Bill & Melina Gates Foundation and the George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
The 158-page document is called “The Next Wave: How Religious Extremism Is Reclaiming Power” and claims that “[a] new alliance of religious extremists, far-right populists, and oligarchic funders” is trying to “launder religious extremism into mainstream governance through media, NGOs, political parties, and public institutions.”
Felix Böllmann, the director of European Advocacy for ADF International, said that while the EPF presents itself as a neutral parliamentary forum, it is really a “well-funded activist network” working closely with the European Commission.
The pro-abortion group receives almost 3 million euros annually from donors such as the Gates Foundation and Open Society Foundations, pharmaceutical giant Merck Sharp & Dohme, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), and the population control advocate organization UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund).
The organization was established in 2000 as a direct spin-off of the IPPF and its European network organization.
The EPF report cited $1.18 billion in funding for “anti-gender activism” in Europe between 2019 and 2023, distributed among 275 organizations.
Catholic organizations that advocate for the family were portrayed as particularly problematic, including Ordo Iuris in Poland, Civitas Christiana in the Netherlands, CitizenGo, and the Christian human rights organization ADF International. Even the aid organization Hungary Helps, which supports persecuted Christians in the Middle East and Africa, is classified as an “enemy of sexual rights.”
Böllmann said in an interview with the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost: “It is remarkably hypocritical for such an organization to accuse others of ‘dark money’ while it itself relies on opaque and ideologically influenced funding.”
“Instead of addressing our arguments, the EPF is pursuing a ‘5D strategy’: Disrobe, Disarm, Dislocate, Demonetize, and Defend – a plan to deprive Christian and conservative voices of legitimacy, financial support, and access to public debate,” he explained.
This strategy shows that EPF’s goal is not open discussion, but enforcing a socio-political agenda through “the instrumentalization of a misunderstood concept of human rights.”
Böllmann noted that the term “religious extremism” is ideologically charged and lacks a clear definition.
“The term is used more as a descriptive characterization of organizations or individuals who, in the EPF’s view, invest financially in conservative movements and question constructed codes, such as a ‘right to sexual and reproductive health.’”
According to Böllmann, the EPF deliberately influences political processes in the EU. It helps shape the content of reports, hearings, and resolutions in the European Parliament and influences terms such as “human rights” or “gender justice” in an ideologically biased manner.
The group organizes “inter-party parliamentary networks and provides members of parliament with specialist letters and background information, which effectively creates a lobbying infrastructure within the EU Parliament.”
“It uses an institutional appearance that is deceptively similar to official EU bodies,” Böllman said regarding the group’s NGO status.
With regard to the smears against ADF and other pro-life and pro-family groups, Böllmann emphasized: “The more they try to silence us, the clearer it becomes: our work is having an impact – in the fight for fundamental freedoms in Europe and beyond.”
