Is Abortion Vegan? | The Pro Choice Dilemma

Nothing quite kills the mood at a dinner party
like discussions of religion, politics, abortion,

or veganism. So I thought it would be a bang-up
idea if in THIS video, we discuss all four!

(I don’t have much of a social life…)

Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome
to another vegan nugget. Among the litany

of objections to and arguments against veganism,
from your standard “plants have feelings”

and “but lions eat meat,” lies an area
of discourse not so easily answered or discounted:

the vegan stance on abortion.

The topics of abortion and veganism do share
common ground. Both are decidedly polarizing

issues quick to spark heated debate, have
passionately outspoken individuals on either

side of the issue, often utilize similar tactics
within their outreach, education, and demonstrations,

and involve a strong focus on the concepts
of sentience, individuality, pain perception

and consciousness.

Before we dive into this moralistic minefield,
let me first state that I will not be settling

the abortion debate in this video. Sorry to
disappoint. What I will do is present the

various arguments posed, along with perceived
logical inconsistencies, and scientific insights.

I will also be using the common terms of pro-life
and pro-choice though I realize that either

side has issues with these and have their
own terminology. This is merely to simplify

the rhetoric in order to address the topic
at hand. You can find complete citations and

a full bibliography for everything discussed
today on the blog post for this video linked

below.

I’d like to add that there is no vegan consensus
or official doctrine on abortion. Vegans,

like the rest of the world’s population,
hold very different beliefs outside of their

refusal to participate in the exploitation
of non-human animals. Views on abortion are

often, but not always, heavily influenced
by ones religious or spiritual practice and

morals, which vary as wildly amongst vegans
as non.

In fact the issue of whether abortion is even
relevant to veganism itself is hotly debated.

While the abortion issue is, at least from
my personal experience, most often thrown

out as a diversion tactic intended to invalidate
veganism as a whole, there remain a few very

real and valid intersections to explore.

The disconnect most often perceived within
the veganism and abortion debate is the pro-choice

vegan. Let’s start at the surface and the
most basic argument against pro-choice veganism:

if vegans are against killing, then we have
to be against all killing. The fallacy in

this position is what’s called a false dilemma,
posing a black and white reality when ample

grey exists.

Even most peace-loving pacifists would defend
themselves against an attacker and find no

moral fault in the death of a perpetrator
during a true kill-or-be-killed situation.

On the other side of the coin lies the most
basic defense for pro-choice veganism: abortion

is dealing with a fetus in utero, of which
the sentience, consciousness and pain perception

continues to be hotly debated, while veganism
deals with beings who are undeniably sentient,

conscious, and pain-perceiving. However, as
we will soon see, this oversimplification

fails to account for countless complex nuances,
though it is without doubt the most striking

divergence, and one to take into account.

When we start delving deeper into the abortion
debate, the lines begin to blur even further.

The ability of a fetus to feel pain is a primary
argument of the pro-life camp. Seeing as how

the prevention of pain and suffering is a
pillar of vegan ethics as well, it would appear

that pro-choice vegans are left with quite
the conundrum. If, in fact, a fetus can feel

pain, then the born vs. unborn moral distinction
fails. The key word being “if.”

Here’s one of the places the abortion debate
lacks the clarity of veganism. Scientists

still do not agree on fetal pain perception.
A 2005 meta-analysis concluded that, “fetal

perception of pain is unlikely before the
third trimester.” A 2010 review by Britain’s

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists,
stated that, “the fetus cannot experience

pain in any sense prior [to 24 weeks].”
The earliest estimate comes from Dr. Kanwaljeet

S. Anand, something of an outlier in the field
and oft-quoted by the pro-life cause. Anand

proposes a window of 18-24 weeks, though he’s
emphasized that, “fetal pain does not have

much relevance for abortion, since most abortions
are performed before the fetus is capable

of experiencing pain,” with only 1.5% of
abortions occurring after 20 weeks in the

United States.
One element clouding the issue is the difference

between nociception and pain, something I
discuss more in-depth in my video “Can Fish

Feel Pain.” In short, there can be reaction
to potentially painful or harmful stimuli

without the experience of pain, and nociceptors,
which appear as early as 7 weeks, are not

in and of themselves capable of relaying pain.
Of course, this uncertainty doesn’t exactly

place pro-choice veganism in the clear. Many
vegans believe that the ability of non-human

animals to feel pain shouldn’t have to be
scientifically proven to our satisfaction

before we stop abusing them. Why conduct cruel
studies when they make it glaringly obvious

with crying out, trying to escape, flinching,
struggling, and showing indicators of psychological

stress? We should operate on the assumption
that they can feel pain. So why then, does

this courtesy not extend to a human fetus?
If pain alone were the issue, vegans would

support the killing of unconscious animals
and pro-lifers wouldn’t protest the abortion

of fetuses prior to the development of pain
perception. But both issues have additional

layers, such as conscious awareness or sentience,
and future life interests.

Vegans see the sentience of non-human animals,
meaning their ability to feel, perceive and

experience life subjectively, as a solid grounds
for their protection. Often interchanged with

“consciousness,” sentience in non-human
animals is widely accepted among scientists,

with over 2,500 studies and the release of
an international Declaration of Consciousness

in 2012.

Similar to the variances in pain-perception
development, the certainty of sentience is

lacking within the abortion debate. Still,
as vegan activist Gary Yourofsky has stated,

“sentience [isn’t] the only factor when
deciding how we should treat other beings.

(Even though trees, mountains, air and water
are insentient life forces, I think they have

a right NOT to be exploited and polluted and
destroyed.)”

Where the argument against pro-choice veganism
really gains some ground is the discussion

of life potential. Vegans, including myself,
often argue that even if we could somehow,

someway actually kill a non-human animal without
any pain or awareness, it would still be unethical

as we could be choosing to end their life
prematurely. We do not see such an action

as our choice, as personal choice is no longer
personal when it involves the welfare of another.

How, then, can a vegan possibly support the
choice to abort the potential life of a human?

The argument that the fetus is not aware of
a future won’t stand unless vegans also

condone the killing of animals who are unaware
or unconscious at the time of death. So have

we circled back to the born vs. unborn divide?
Again this becomes hazy with the uncertainty

of pain and sentience.

There exists an element of self-defense congruent
with vegan ideals that can be applied to abortion

in the cases of rape and incest or when the
life of the mother is at stake. But what about

abortion out of inconvenience or financial
strain? Or sex-selective abortions wherein

female fetuses are aborted due to male cultural
preference, a practice most often associated

with China and India, but prevalent in many
other countries where males increasingly outnumber

females. Is choosing to stop the potential
life of a fetus for what could be termed one’s

own comfort a parallel to meat eaters ending
the lives of non-human animals for their own

comfort?

Even more direct parallels exist. In my video
“Is Lab Meat Vegan,” I discussed the harvesting

methods for bovine fetal serum, a growth medium
used within a wide range of laboratory experiments,

along with fetal pig and fetal sheep serums.
Bovine fetal serum is obtained by piercing

and draining the beating heart of fetal calves
who’ve been cut from their mothers’ wombs

in slaughterhouses.

This practice was understandably met with
horror and disgust from vegan viewers and

even non-vegans. Were any of these vegans
pro-choice, would this reaction be an indication

of dissonance or hypocrisy? The study I cited
went on in length about the potential pain-perception

of the bovine fetuses and referenced a general
acceptance of 24 weeks for human fetus pain

perception, and presented a figure of roughly
12 weeks, or 3 months for cows, who are more

fully developed at birth than humans.

Again the variances in situation may create
a buffer for the pro-choice vegan given that

bovine fetuses must be at least 3 months old
to provide enough serum and are often 6 months

or older when put through this procedure without
any anesthesia, well beyond the point of pain

perception. Additionally, it’s readily evident
that a human mother procuring an abortion

differs dramatically from cutting a living
fetus from the body of a mother cow slaughtered

against her will in order to drain the heart
for profit.

I would like to bring up another wrinkle.
While vegans believe in the rights of non-human

animals, the majority, from what I have found,
which is by no means conclusive, do seem to

support the spaying and neutering of companion
animals. While this is most certainly a violation

of their rights, it is not, as Gary Yourofsky
has written, a cruel practice when performed

properly. He, along with many activists, argues
that since the domestication of dogs and cats

will not be undone anytime soon, spaying and
neutering is a better alternative than the

current cruel and needless deaths of millions
of abandoned, unwanted companion animals due

to overbreeding.

Once again the parallel is by no means ideal,
as our animal companions have no ability to

make this choice for themselves, and spaying
and neutering prevents a pregnancy while abortion

ends one. I present this simply as an example
of vegans being faced with an ethical ambiguity

and supporting the restriction of animals’
reproductive rights.

At the more misanthropic end of the spectrum,
since humanity continues to murder trillions

of innocent beings every year, decimate the
planet, and grow in population and demand

for meat, could it be argued that stemming
this proliferation at its root would actually

be perfectly inline with vegan principles?

Any attempt to present a singular vegan view
on abortion negates the diversity and variance

of vegans themselves. Many vegans reject the
aforementioned “animals vs. humans” dichotomy,

seeing human and animal rights as inextricable
– to be protected and fought for concurrently.

Something I personally find fascinating in
this whole debate is the focus on whether

vegans can be pro-choice. With all of the
uncertainties inherent in fetal pain-perception

and sentience and the absolute certainties
of non-human animal c pain-perception and

sentience it’s interesting that the more
concrete question usually remains unasked:

can someone non-vegans be pro-life?

As I said in the opener, I’m not going to
settle the abortion debate, or even the veganism

and abortion debate. Even with my attempts
at simplifications, it’s evident how complex

this dialogue can easily become.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the debate
in the comments below. It’s gonna be fun

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