Pro-life atheists

[FlyingNarwhal]

I am by default pro-choice, although I have my reservations about abortion, and could possibly swing the other way eventually. Personally I like that abortion is an option, I really don't want kids and abortion seems like a good back up plan, but there are a few things that make me wonder if it should be allowed. From what I've read, women are able to abort up until week 24 or somewhere around there, the main reason being that the baby has a good chance of survival outside the womb at this stage. But this bugs me mainly because this is a reflection of our advances in modern medicine, not a determination of when life begins. If further medical advances 50 years down the road somehow spawns an artificial womb, and the baby can then survive after 16 weeks, does that mean the time limit to get an abortion should drop to 16 weeks? I am more interested in figuring out when life begins, and applying that to abortion laws. I don't know the answer to that question, which is why I am by default pro-choice. But I think there needs to be a lot of thought that goes into deciding when life actually begins. Brain functioning occurs within the first trimester, well before the current cut off date, should that be the indicator of life? Or should consciousness be the indicator, although consciousness may not occur in babies until a few months after their birth. There are a few moral conundrums wrapped up in this issue, and even though I'm a big fan of "It's my body, I should be able to do whatever I want to it" when it comes to most issues (drug use, suicide, prostitution), I think that answer falls short on this question and is a complete oversimplification of the problems at hand. When does human life begin? If life begins early what is the greater argument, right to life or personal autonomy?