The place of evidence and societal values within the current discourse on pregnancy termination in Germany.

Pregnancy termination and abortion policies and their perception is a highly contested topic on various levels of human experience and interaction. Abortion laws are under constant change throughout the world due to opposing evidential approaches and influential societal values. In Germany, abortion laws are of social and political relevance, but also an individually relevant topic for women. To address the current discourse on pregnancy termination in Germany, the question of What is the place of medical and biological scientific evidence, and societal values in the current discourse on pregnancy termination in Germany? can be asked. As differing theoretical basis theories on evidence-based policymaking, Foucauldian post-structuralism and feminist post-structuralism are used. As comprehensive research is necessary for such a complex topic, a critical discourse analysis is applied by analysing relevant newspaper articles, opinions pieces, party programs, church reports, and organisational statements gathering central evidential data and insights on societal values. The two central findings of this thesis are for once the minor role evidence plays compared to values, especially as the usage of biological scientific evidence depends on the underlying values actors have. And second, the current discourse is foremost influenced by conservative biopolitical, emancipatory and patriarchal values.