I'd been hesitant to comment on the topic of abortion because it so often does become an inflammatory issue where little communication really occurs. Since that may not be the case here, I'll chime in with my views as a young single white male.
Just the thought of a girlfriend being pregnant with our child and opting for abortion brings tears to my eyes. It would be hard for everyone, and I'd do everything I could to have the chance to raise him/her, even if it isn't the most convenient time in my life right now.
As mentioned before, at this point I would only consider intercourse with a woman I feel I could happily raise a child with. I don't try to get anyone pregnant, but I see it as an inherent possibility, regardless of protection used. I'd rather be celibate or get a vasectomy than deal with an abortion (and men do have to deal with abortions, even though they have no choice in the matter).
I consider life, on some level, to begin at conception if not before (going all the way back through our ancestors). Given that life can only be created from life (basic biology), there's no point at which one can say life has yet to enter it, though exactly what type of life it is at first is open to interpretation.
Whether pain would be involved in the killing or not wouldn't be a deciding factor for me, just as being able to painlessly kill a healthy full grown human wouldn't make it okay to me if it was without his/her consent. Still the info about the thalamus was interesting. I hadn't read about that before.
That said, I don't feel like I can decide this issue for anyone else. Few people treat abortion lightly.
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