Between the abortion and research: The embryo in the Brazilian Press

Abstract

After many debates in the public sphere, in 2005 Brazil approved embryo research. However, the polemic on the handling of the embryo remains in the center of a social agenda and causes controversies anchored in vast systems of values and thoughts. This work aims to analyze the social construction of the embryo object via social communication in the light of the theory of the social representations. 447 articles published in two Brazilian newspapers published in 2005 were analyzed by the software ALCESTE. The various standpoints seem to be anchored in a field of representations related to the question of the right to life. The data do not show a difference in approach between the two publications.