Linguistic encoding of women’s agency in the German political discourse on abortion: A diachronic Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This research, rooted in the Critical Discourse Analysis framework, employs a mixed-methods approach to examine debates on abortion legislation in the German Bundestag. Focusing on the attribution of agency to women through semantic role assignment in the context of abortion procedures, the study utilises both qualitative analysis and quantitative data analysis techniques. Five debates spanning the 1970s, 1990s and 2010s were examined using the qualitative analysis tool MAXQDA. Results consistently indicate that arguments referring to women are predominantly assigned semantic roles associated with passivity and relatively low agency. This pattern persists regardless of the ideological stance, transcending divides between pro-life and pro-choice advocates. This perpetuates and reinforces the societal perception of women as passive, upholding a traditional gender stereotype within the discourse. A larger number of arguments referring to women were found in the pro-choice data compared to the pro-life data, indicating a greater emphasis on women within the argumentation of pro-choice speakers. The study underscores the enduring impact of language on shaping perceptions of women’s agency in the context of abortion legislation debates.