Legitimation and delegitimation of the right to abortion in ideologically opposed discourses: religious and feminist discourse

This chapter aims to point out some of the possible ways social actors use to change existing social practices. Selected examples depict ideological stances in a very well-versed way where feminist discourse tends to the demystification of ideologies that are established through religious discourse. Van Leeuwen‘s concept of legitimation is used in combination with a feminist critical discourse approach for analyzing the statements of social actors who participate in developing or limiting specific beliefs.