“Each society creates a regime of truth in accordance to its beliefs, values and more” (Foucault, 1972). Abortion is a controversial subject as it evokes the issue of life and death. For some society, abortion is permissible and for some it is not. Today’s society mostly has a mixed reaction on the idea of abortion. The discourse of abortion can be seen connected to primarily the discourse of gender’s matter specifically women’s rights and religion. This is not surprising because discourse is always multiple and can generally be subdivided (Machin & Mayr, 2012). This paper focuses on the discourse of abortion and how it is being portrayed in the media.
The surfaces of emergence on the discourse of abortion could be deduced to religious community, the political or legal system—the law—and society’s awareness on the subject. Surfaces of emergence demonstrate the differences in opinion that may emerge from the discourse and giving it a status of object (Foucault, 1972).
Religion has always been present in all society and often emphasizes the devotees on doing the right thing. Ending another person’s life is to a certain extent can be considered as murder.
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In 1791, there were no laws regarding abortion as the practice was governed by common law concept of “quickening”. Prior to quickening—detection of fetal movement—abortion was generally accepted. By the end of the 18th century however, abortion is illegal in all states except to safe a mother’s life. In 1916, Birth Control Federation of America, which then turned to Planned Parenthood, was created to oppose the idea against abortion. By the end of 1972, most states enacted an abortion law reform that permits abortion with some exceptions. Most recently, some states enacted a law banning abortions after 20 weeks due to fetus’s ability to feel pain (Shimabukoru,