Kirsten Achtelik has a degree in social sciences and journalism. Her book "Selbstbestimmte Norm. Feminismus, Pränataldiagnostik, Abtreibung" was published in 2015.

Her main areas of work include feminist and disability movements and theory formations, criticism of selective prenatal diagnostics and reproductive technologies, and observation and analysis of the "pro-life" movement. She is doing her doctorate cumulatively on biopolitics and self-determination at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 2018, together with Eike Sanders and Ulli Jentsch from apabiz, she published the book "Kulturkampf und Gewissen. Medizinethische Strategien der ,Lebensschutz'-Bewegung".