At what point in gestation is a fetus "aware?" At "some point" is too vague. Why should a woman's bodily autonomy and rights be compromised? The fetus has neither.
The question at hand is at what point a fetus becomes an infant. Everyone agrees that once a baby is born, it has rights. What about an hour before birth? There is no discernible difference between the two, so why should one have rights and the other shouldn’t? The abortion argument is a no-brainer for pre-viability fetuses. They lack the ability to live, and thus are part of the mother. Once a fetus becomes viable, why wouldn’t we consider it protected under the law?
You say the fetus has neither bodily autonomy nor rights. Bodily autonomy is simple, as fetuses are in a state of sedation. Does a sleeping person have bodily autonomy? As there is no way for an unconscious person to communicate their desires, they effectively do not have bodily autonomy until the wake up. Rights are more complicated. Rights are abstract concepts we apply somewhat arbitrarily. The only reason I have rights is because the government agrees that I do, and they agree to protect those rights. Whether or not a fetus has rights is ultimately the crux of this debate. I would argue that a fetus’ right to life is dependent on their ability to live separate from their mother.
Imagine you are in a room, and there is a body laying on a bed. It is unconscious, it has never been conscious before. There are two buttons, one that wakes it up and one that stops its heart. The decision, to me, is clear. Waking the body up and allowing it to be a person is the right choice. This example removes the issue of a woman’s right to bodily autonomy, so let’s add that.
This time, the body is connected to a conscious person. If you choose to wake the body, the conscious person will be electrocuted. Not enough to kill, but enough to cause serious pain and perhaps bodily harm. Additionally, the body would become the conscious person’s responsibility. They would be responsible for either providing for the body, or finding someone else who will. The conscious person does not want to take the risk of bodily harm, or the responsibility of looking after the body.
In this case, what is the correct decision? If you wake the body up, you are harming someone as well as saddling them with a responsibility they didn’t want. On the other hand, is stopping a body’s heart— a body that is perfectly capable of living, breathing, and thinking— is that murder? The only difference between the body and yourself is that the body has never woken up.
There’s no good answer. I believe that while women have a right to choose, there should be ample time to choose before the third trimester. Additionally, sex education and access to birth control could prevent situations where women
are forced to make such a hard decision.