What percentage of the people here on this subredit are pro-life for purely secular, non religious/spiritual reasons?

I know Reddit in general is pretty secular...but I actually find it strange that do many people seem to be arriving at this position "scientifically".

I don't think trying to convince people the pro-life POV is correct with "science" is likely to be very effective. I mean, I read these arguments - and I'm already someone who identifies as pro-life - and I just honestly can't understand them.

I myself arrived at the pro-life point of view through practicing Vipassana [Vipassana ](www.dhamma.org) meditation. I learned this meditation technique. I took a couple 10-day meditation courses, started reading some Theravadic (Buddhist) literature, learned what Buddha had to say about when life begins (he basically said it doesn't...Buddha and the people who live(d) in his part of the world (India) believe(d) that at the moment of "death", consciousness instantly finds it's way to another being, because it works like light particles flowing through space: it has to go somewhere; it can't just "stop". I went back and did some more 10-day courses, and found myself reflecting on this idea over and over, as I practiced my meditation (observing particles flickering into and out of existence, in my own body)...and came to the conclusion that in this life, I probably wasn't ever going to develop the wisdom necessary to really be absolutely sure whether or not Buddha was right or not, and if I was going to believe that, it would have to be on faith. And why have faith? Well...I read this Buddhist literature, and reflected on my experience putting the meditation technique into practice, and I never experienced anything that caused me to doubt anything I had been told or read. So I decided to accept the whole teaching, and considered myself "Buddhist"...and so I became "pro-life".

It so happens that I now consider myself Christian: I was drawn to Christianity because I met some people who were very compassionate, who were obviously very honorable, and who seemed to be doing something right, because they were able to remain calm in the face of adversity, and seemed to be generally happy with their lives...and I looked at myself and realized I wanted to be like them. So I started reading the Bible, and Christian literature, and found that everything I loved in about the teaching of Buddhism was there as well - plus there some extra stuff that seemed like it would be very helpful...some stuff I needed. I realized I needed help from God - so I made a conscious choice to believe in Him, and to believe the stories about Jesus...which was quite difficult at first... but that's how faith works, I think. At first, it really is a "leap".

So anyway now, I'm not attached to any church, but my mother is Catholic and I go to mass with her, and I've been reading Catholic literature...and it's very clear, there, what the teaching is about when life begins, and it's very clear that abortion is immoral: The magisterium says it's wrong. The Pope wrote an encyclical (Evangelium vitae) that spells it out clear as day. And though I haven't yet converted to Catholicism, I firmly believe that what he wrote in that document is absolutely true...and I don't think I could "prove it" with science or any philosophical argument...I don't have to. I believe it because I choose to believe it, because I choose to, and because when I am sit quietly and meditate and pray, I never have the slightest bit of doubt about it. I go on subredits where people are talking about how they're thinking about getting abortions, or how they got one, and very often they write about having to force themselves to go through with it, to ignore their conscience...and they congratulate themselves for "being strong", and going through with it even though they weren't sure...and that just further convinces me. My faith is strong because I feel at peace with my belief. If I had to intellectual exercises to convince myself with philosophy that what I believed was correct, I'd never feel as confident as I do now. So that's why I don't understand te appeal of the secular approach to this issue. To me it just seems like too much work, to get to the right answer.