My own view is that, while abortion is deeply undesirable, particularly after the very early stages of a pregnancy, the alternative, of banning abortion, is even worse. The problem does not go away, it just goes underground - back-steet abortions etc. In Ireland, women get around the strict abortion laws by hopping over to the UK. In other countries where abortion is unavailable or taboo, the results have lead to untold human suffering - the orphans in Rumania, thousands and thousands of children earning a living as prostitutes. That is without getting into a debate about the rights of women to control their fertility/pregnancy. After all, not every woman gets pregnant willingly and without coertion but it is the woman who, nearly always, is left "holding the baby"? Banning abortion would also allow the state a huge amount of control over a woman's pregnancy - think how easily that situation could be manipulated? I do have some sympathy with the pro-life argument in the sense that any life, even an unborn life, is precious, but I think that has to be tempered by a realistic debate about the real consequences of taking such a fundamentalist position.