"Selbstbestimmung" versus "Kind als Schaden" und "Familie": Die politische Debatte um Pränataldiagnostik und Eizellspende in Österreich anhand der Beispiele des Entwurfs zum Schadenersatzänderungsgesetz und des Urteils des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte

Abstract: Reproductive medicine has been under debate since decades in Austria due to the existing gap between conservative and liberal positions. Recent examples are debates about wrongful birth ("Kind als Schaden") in the context of the discussionon PND and the legal ban of egg donation. The study analysis qualitative interviews of proponents of the conservative and liberal positions towards these topics and examines practices and verbal "images of human life" produced and reproduced in the discussion . The analysis shows incommensurable political positions which actors strive to push through. The resulting confrontation (and the associated undifferentiated debate) produces and reproduces simplified "images of human life" which do not reflect the actual problems of women and their partners in clinical practice. The study shows that there is little empirical evidence used to substantiate political stances taken. Affected women and their partners do not have access to the political domain. For more information: www.ihs.ac.at/steps/humanlife/english/home.html;