The abortion debate is the product of a misunderstanding of the nature of life. Life does not have some kind of magical quality, nor do human beings have a soul. The abortion debate would be far more transparent if instead of asking "when does life begin" we were to ask ourselves "when does a human being get a soul?"
The latter question reveals that people who oppose abortion due to because they believe that they are infringing on the rights of a being that possesses a soul which is equal to the soul of any other adult human being. Unfortunately, souls (like magical fairies that produce gravity) don't exist, and are merely abstractions for feelings of consciousness we enjoy as complex organisms.
Tossing souls aside, we can make a judgement on whether or not abortion should be outlawed. Laws are meant to protect the rights of sentient human beings, because as sentient human beings outselves it is in our best interests to keep society safe for others like us. A human fetus is not sentient. Think that is harsh? Well compare the intelligence of a human fetus to the intelligence of an adult animal that we routinely consider to be mindless and replacable.
Of course that non-sentient fetus will eventually gain sentience, but that doesn't matter because the law is meant to protect the rights of sentient beings similar to ourselves. Therefore, the rights of the mother outweigh the rights of the unborn child. There is no harm done to society through the killing of a fetus, because one only worries about being killed after they have been born. The laws that prevent murder are meant to allieviate the chaos that would be caused by a society in which murder were legal. (Everyone would be paranoid and constantly scared). Abortion does not cause societal chaos, as fetuses are not going to become fearful at the prospect that their life could be ended without consequence.
Hope this provides you with another developed viewpoint on the issue.
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