Is abortion an immoral act?
I had a pregnancy scare years ago (either the pregnancy was a false alarm, or I had a very early miscarriage...but at the time I assumed it was a false alarm). I remember sitting up all night searching the internet for answers. Not from a theological perspective (although there was a bombardment of that, which was unwelcome to me as I was purely a cultural Christian at that point) but from a scientific perspective.
By the time it was sunrise, I'd made up my mind that if I was pregnant I would keep the baby. Just the thought that I might be pregnant was enough to awaken maternal instincts. Those instincts are very strong. If a woman has them, and has an abortion anyway, I think psychologically it's likely to be pretty harmful (and don't forget women are often placed under pressure to abort by men who don't want the responsibility & cost of fatherhood).
There are also the people working in the medical profession to consider, and the psychological impact performing abortions on a daily basis has on them. And, of course, the man who was involved in creating the foetus - who might be devastated by the loss of opportunity to be a father. I'm not an anti-feminist per se, but I dislike the way feminism often discourages women from contemplating that impact of abortion. I think it's right to extend compassion and support to the man who loses an opportunity to be a father. It's never NOT right to extend compassion to somebody who's hurting.
I think people hear the word "immoral" and they flip out because it has such an old fashioned "stone them...put them to death!!" harshly judgemental ring to it. As does sin. But often what's classed as sin or immorality is really behaviour that has a negative impact on us or others. Emotionally, psychologically...maybe to the degree that it takes us down a wrong path (since emotional/psychological harm does often result in that).
Even by 6 weeks the foetus has taken a distinctly human looking form - and most abortions are conducted a bit later than 6 weeks though before 12. I think people conducting abortions probably have to naturally have a tougher mindset (or harder heart depending on how you want to view it) than the average person....or else they have to develop one. This is an issue I also consider in terms of whether I should eat meat. Knowing that somebody has to kill that animal - and that however humanely it's carried out, it's an act that has an impact on the person doing it.
So even if you reject the notion that the foetus has a soul or is sentient, there are these other elements to consider in deciding "is this a moral act?" An obvious answer might be "okay, but even if it isn't moral...aren't there lots of other human acts & behaviours - including spending more time judging others than searching inward for our own "sin" or unhealthy thinking patterns - that are immoral?" and the answer to that is a resounding yes.
That's possibly not going into it in the philosophical depth you're looking for in terms of what it means to be human. All I can really say to that is that a pregnant woman doesn't necessarily have the time nor luxury to read lengthy philosophical & theological discourses on the nature of being human. Ultimately she has to consider what the least harmful, from her personal perspective (and only she really knows what that is) course of action will be.
If she's contemplating an abortion, she has to make that decision quickly and preferably without other people muddying her difficult decision making process by imposing their own political, philosophical or theological ideologies on her. I think even if she 100% rejects any idea that the foetus has a soul or is sentient...the issue of foetal sentience/soul-having may not be the only moral issue at stake for the pregnant woman. Sadly, this is one of those tremendously upsetting, difficult social issues that offers people an opportunity to virtue signal at another person's expense.
