Introduction: There are mixed findings about whether termination of pregnancy (ToP) is a significant life event that may trigger a negative psychological reaction in vulnerable women, or whether ToP is a minor life event (or not considered a life event) with minimal or temporary detrimental effects. The quality of studies exploring these issues varies substantially in terms of sample size, sample selection and validity of measures. Existing studies do not consider the role of discourse in the construction of ToP. This is significant because discourse has the potential to influence meaning, practices, and reported psychological distress. Objectives: This study employed a qualitative methodology to explore how discourse operates through power to produce a particular 'truth' of ToP and the effects of this. Design: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis approach was taken using Berg's (2009) model to analyse the data obtained from the interviews. Method: Initially, a document analysis was performed where literature about ToP, produced by health organisations in the UK, was collected in order to contextualise health/legislative discourse. Next, discourse was collected from interviews conducted with six South Asian women recruited from community centres in Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire. Results: Religious and cultural discourses were perceived to have validity and worth and produced effects- discursively and through practice which influenced how women understood, experienced, and responded to ToP. The discourses identified linked together using 'common-sense' ideas to produce a discourse of ToP. Discussion: The findings illustrate that taken for granted sets of ideas about who and what exists in the world help to impose bounds beyond which it is often very hard to reason and behave. When particular discourse becomes understood as common sense and 'true', these set limits to the cultural know-how of a particular social group. The clinical implications and the limitations of this study are considered and suggestions for future research are made.