What I, or any other woman, decides to do about our own reproductive lives,
is no one's business but our own.
It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of it, they don't get to interfere or
inject their opinion, unless they are specifically asked.

There is no "right to life". Never has been one, never will be one.
Each woman is absolutely entitled to her own reasons, and no one else has
any right to pass judgment on whether her reasons are valid.
No pregnancy, in the history of pregnancy, has ever been guaranteed to
result in a live birth. Never has been. Never will be.

No gods. No soul.
No one's business. It doesn't matter if they think it is their business, it's not.
And it never will be.

Abortion should be legal and available to any woman for any reason she chooses. I've had two abortions in my lifetime. One at age 16 from being raped, and one at 23 when my fetus had some of it's organs growing outside of the body cavity. The first one I did not feel any regret about because I was not going to carry my rapists seed to term. The second one I felt mostly sadness because I wanted the baby and was in fact hoping for a little girl as I already had two wonderful little boys. I've never felt bad about either abortion because I felt they were a medical procedure that was necessary for my quality of life.

I do not believe life begins at conception. I have not had an abortion but I fully support abortion rights. The mother has rights too!

In a perfect world there would be no abortions, spontaneous or otherwise. Every pregnancy would be wanted, every fetus would develop normally, and no woman's life would be put at risk by her pregnancy. But, this is not the nature of things. There are many reasons why a woman makes that difficult decision; and, the choice should be hers.

No, a fetus does not “have” a soul. That’s putting the cart before the horse. No organism has a soul.
IMO if there is a soul at all it is a universal soul.

Life is a continuum, proceeding according to the laws of nature, and it’s in perfect accord. The life and death of a single organism is of little significance. Of infinite significance however is conscious awareness, which is primary and universal.

A thousand acorns might fall from an oak each year but there’s not room for them all to become trees. If even one becomes a tree that is more than enough.

As a male that isn't in the medical proffession I can assure you that abortion is none of my business.

Souls don't exist and I imagine guilt would come from others who want to make an intensely personal choice a public affair - probably because they're serious assholes.

Since I can't get pregnant I can only imagine the situation. In the bible it states that god predetermines where and when a person will be born. If a pregnancy is aborted then the logic follows that is was the god's choice and plan because, as it plainly stated in the bible, the god determines exactly when and where a person is born according to the god's "own" words. Unless the god is a liar or it's power is that of a weakling then all abortions are the plan of the god because it predetermines every event of life.
As an atheist I see life beginning with the first thought that occurs and ending with the last thought that occurs. Aborting a fetus before a "thought" has occurred would be very similar to unplugging a brain dead person on life support. You are not a living being if you don't have thought and are more of a biological vessel instead that is with or without potential depending on whether you are coming towards "being" or leaving it. Abortion before thought occurs terminates the potential for a biological mass to come into being. Men destroy the potential for millions of biological masses to develop into living beings every time they masturbate and they think nothing of it. Women destroy the potential for life every time they have a period. The potential for human life is destroyed by the trillions everyday by men and women in this world living their normal biological life and that is just the way it is. This thought of life beginning with a heartbeat is not accepted in the medical field because they unplug the beating hearts of humans everyday when they are determined to have no thought. You do need a beating heart to have thought but a beating heart without thought is not a human that is the process of being - it's a biological mass with the potential to become a being. Abortions would be rare if birth control was readily available and the need for it well understood and accepted but religion has other ancient ignorant ideas that it wants to dictate.

It’s impossible to answer your question “if you had an abortion, would guilt follow you around for the rest of your life?” We can only guess how we’d feel, unless we have already had one that is, and even then it must entirely depend on the individual and the circumstances which necessitated the abortion.

My stance on abortion is an unemotional one, and never having had a religion it is not influenced by any religious arguments regarding whether life begins at conception or not, or the notional ideas regarding “souls “. I believe it is solely the mother’s right to choose whether she continues with a pregnancy or not. If the pregnancy has not resulted from rape, then her partner should be consulted and his wishes considered, but ultimately it’s her decision, and should be a medical and not a legal matter. I cannot imagine, that were it the case that it was the male of the species who had the womb and got pregnant, and not the female, that we’d still be arguing about abortion in the 21st century. If that were the case, I think that there would be abortion on demand and a much lower birth rate!

i don't know why i would feel guilty. if i had an abortion it would be after a thinking process that culminated in the decision that it was the best course of action. i would not feel guilty for disposing of a clump of cells with no functioning nerve endings and nothing more than a bunch of electrical impulses that some people mistook for a heartbeat. i would feel guilty bringing into the world a child i could not support, and i would feel guilty for putting myself through a physical trial of nine months that quite frankly could kill me (in which case i wouldn't feel guilty because i'd be dead).

i do not believe in souls, so of course a fetus doesn't have one. no one has one.

i am an atheistic jew, meaning i am culturally jewish but believe in no gods at all and do not follow the religion except various elements of it that make sense to me or amuse me (i like purim!) jewish law is not against abortion, as it happens, but even if it were, that would not be meaningful to me.

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I think, religion aside, abortion is still a very personal topic. I personally have no objection to (or guilt about) abortion before there’s a fully functioning brain and nervous system; at that point, there is the sensation of pain. So that’s my personally established boundary.

I also believe in exceptions even to this for extraordinary reasons, and those reasons should be decided by the woman and her doctor — and no one else.

In a perfect society birth control would be taught in schools as part of health classes and parents would also counsel their children in birth control. Also birth control medicines and other contraceptives would be available to everyone. They aren't because the christian right doesn't want that type of stuff either taught or available. Just say no to both drug use and sex. On the other hand they are long gone after the baby has been born. I have yet to see them out there begging women to have the baby so that one of them can adopt it. And I've also had experiences with some of the people who are totally against abortion until their daughter ends up getting pregnant - the story changes quickly then....well at least for them because well you know there were extenuating circumstances. I believe none of us are in any position to judge another.

Let the woman decide after consulting her doctor. I see nothing wrong with an abortion for any reason the pregnant woman choses. For me, it comes down to the idea that the fetus is using the woman's body. The woman has the right to bodily autonomy. The woman gets to decide how her body is to be used.
There is no credible evidence for the existence of a soul, so that is a non-issue.

It is a choice for the pregnant woman to make. I would support her whichever way she decides.

According to the god nuts, a baby gets a free pass to heaven, right?
So an aborted fetus (if you can call that a 'baby'--I don't) would go directly to an eternity of bliss. No living a life with all its temptations, so no risk of going to hell.
So we'd actually be doing all these "babies" a favor by aborting them.
We should be aborting MORE babies if that's the case, not fewer!
We have a terrible overpopulation problem.
I'm for asking pregnant women to volunteer for the heaven-assuring procedure. This may only apply to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, but that's still a lot of souls being saved from the dangers of actually living a life full of sin and depravity.
Abortion "problem" solved.

I'm not from a religious background - I was raised very much aware that there was a such a thing as religion and that I am Jewish (I still consider myself to be Jewish, despite also being an atheist), but also that science has provided far more convincing explanations of how the universe came to be. I do not believe that a foetus has a soul; nor do I believe that any other person or living thing has a soul, because I do not believe that souls exist. However, I understand that women who don't share this opinion might well find undergoing an abortion to be far more morally problematic than I would, and I feel for them.

We weren't going to have children when we married. We were going to have a fun and selfish life without contributing to overpopulation. However, inadvertently and shockingly I found myself pregnant. Seeing the ultrasound at 12 wks I was blown away. I thought then and there I would never have an abortion. I guess I had a 'spiritual' experience.....or at least, I was greatly moved.

I would never ever impose my beliefs on others and I stand for the rights of other women to choose. In fact I look around and wish half the population had been aborted. But not mine! never mine! lol. We went on to have three more babies.

A fetus is a PARASITE (Google the definition of "parasite" ) in every sense of the word. Does anyone get all teary-eyed over tapeworms/roundworms/hookworms? None of my business what anyone chooses to do with their insides........

In my catholic days I would have felt guilt and would most likely not have one. As an agnostic, I would not feel guilt at all. I am choosing to remain childfree and were an accident to happen the thing is getting aborted. Getting pregnant would take for me to make that decision. The soul is a religious concept. There is no scientific evidence for a soul. We do not even have a proper definition or conceptualization of a soul to be able to study it. I believe personhood does not begin until birth, however, barring health complications, I do not think 3rd trimester abortions should be common. In the 3rd trimester the fetus' brain and nerves are developed so much that the fetus can feel pain. Prior to that, it would not feel a thing.

This topic has been hashed over so many times, and still women for choice have to fight for that right. I personally have used this method, and I have also worked at Planned Parenthood. My background is a retired Labor and Delivery RN. So yes I have seen many sides of this issue. I have also marched for a woman's right to decide for herself. I have been spit at and called a murder. When at PP we were trapped in our clinic by demonstrators singing (get this) civil rights songs and holding pics of aborted fetuses. I eventually quit because of those hassles. My slogan has always been "My Body, My Choice". And I marched with a wire coat hanger on my head,both in the 70's and this year! Let's not go back to the time when women died trying to end a pregnancy they didn't want or couldn't care for. We have no right to judge because we are not walking in her shoes. Keep abortion safe and legal!!!!!

I’m having a hard time thinking of any instance where an unwanted pregnancy isn’t a man fault.

I think abortion should be legal, safe and rare.

I think there’s plenty of room for both sides of the debate to join together and focus on preventing unwanted pregnancies, rather than abortions.

The discussion with a partner was never necessary for me.... I believe that the morning after pill and abortion on demand should be freely available to all women.
As to ;souls' as in ability to have deep emotional feelngs for another life - only applies to a cognitive brain that recognises emotional contact and again no direct experience of how long for this to develop n kids

Now that I'm older, I sometimes resent the fact that my grandmother had so many children. My mother was the sixth of 11 children, and had to quit school in 8th grade to take care of the youngest five (their father was an alcoholic and died at that time).

The poverty and ignorance that reverberated from that is still affecting dozens of people, including me.

There are other things I have learned--some within the last couple of years--that are just heartbreaking, and stem directly from my grandma's religious beliefs that she had to keep having children (even though she had no real means to take care of them, although she always managed somehow).

One incident I don't mind sharing I learned about decades ago. One of mom's younger brothers (very little at the time) had an ear infection, and the side of his head started swelling up. Mom said she told grandma he had to go to the doctor, and she said no because they had no money. Mom was a working teenager then, so said she would pay for it. Grandma still said no. Mom took him anyway.

When I knew grandma, she never had a dog or a cat, and was very standoffish with any animal I ever saw around her. I learned later she never wanted her kids to have any animals because they had no way to feed themselves, much less the animals, and so had kind of turned off any emotion toward animals.

The bible doesn't consider a fetus a human, life beginning at conception, or consider heartbeats relevant to anything (the Midianites all had heartbeats when god ordered them all slaughtered).

Many fun facts you may not know regarding the bible and abortion:
[ffrf.org]

And if you don't have time, here is a small sampling of the bible's view of the sanctity of the lives of babies.

Numbers 31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones.
Deuteronomy 2:34 utterly destroyed the men and the women and the little ones.
Deuteronomy 28:53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters.
I Samuel 15:3 slay both man and woman, infant and suckling.
2 Kings 8:12 dash their children, and rip up their women with child.
2 Kings 15:16 all the women therein that were with child he ripped up.
Isaiah 13:16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled and their wives ravished.
Isaiah 13:18 They shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.
Lamentations 2:20 Shall the women eat their fruit, and children.
Ezekiel 9:6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children.
Hosea 9:14 give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
Hosea 13:16 their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

In an ideal world men and women would make wise choices and avoid unwanted pregnancies. No one wants an abortion if they can avoid it. It costs money and hurts, not to mention puts women at risk for complications like any medical procedure. When women are seeking abortions, it's because it's their very last resort against having an unwanted child. Even asking a woman to care for the child for the nine month pregnancy is asking her to allow her body to be permanently altered for the rest of her life, usually in negative ways. If women are desperate enough to avoid that, that they would get abortions, we need to be honoring those feelings.

At the same time, I don't dismiss the humanity of the fetus. I believe discussing the humanity is a ploy to help people overcome what they would otherwise feel mortified over: killing a helpless baby. I believe it's justified because no one else can care for the fetus except for one specific woman and at a tremendous cost to her and so, though it is an unhappy situation for all, particularly the fetus, it still should be allowable. I support efforts to make the procedure more comfortable for the fetus which is something that doesn't happen when people argue that they aren't human.

I also think there needs to be some legal protections to encourage men not to produce unwanted pregnancies. There are many cases where men pressure women into sex or where they slip the condom off during sex so they can have a more enjoyable experience. But if pregnancy occurs, is the woman who has to take responsibility. A lot would change if the law placed more responsibility on men, outside of small child support payments.

I'm not sure "when life begins". As a man I couldn't say if I would ever have one or not. I helped pay for a friend's abortion in highschool because a football player took advantage of her when she was passed out (I had just been given some money from my bio dad who left before I was born - we were always desperately poor back then). I support abortion rights just because I'm not sure what I would do and I don't feel it's my place to make moral judgements for others. I also think too often questions like "when life begins" don't have any objective meaning. I'm sure "life" in this usage is not the scientific definition (i.e. life processes - nutrition, respiration, reproduction, movement, etc) or at least not to most. Perhaps if we were more careful with our language and less emotional then abortion doctors would not be killed. But it's human nature to respond to emotionally charged rhetoric and also to assume that things with correct syntax that aren't obvious nonsense must have some meaning (it's also kind of how language evolves). As for your other questions, I've never seen a "soul". If you mean something like "consciousness" we'd need to define that as well. If you mean "self awareness" I would lean towards "no" but I don't see how that could be answered definitively.
In the end I guess I'm pro choice just because it is such a complicated issue to me.
And as for feeling guilty, if it were possible for me and I did I would probably feel guilty but let myself off the hook after a while. And I have no idea what it would take. I certainly would never presume it meant someone who had one was any better or worse a human being than anyone else.