could you really be a vegan and belive in abortion?

Question

I'm an ethical vegan, I love animals, but I think abortions are a great thing (for people who need them, not abuse them)...
what are your thought, vegans/vegetarians?

Answer 1

I don't “believe in abortion,” but I do believe in a woman's right to have an abortion. I DON'T believe that a bunch of middle-aged, upper class, pseudo-Christian white males should have the power to make laws about what women can and cannot do with their bodies.

I don't believe in killing animals, but that does not mean I am going to go out and push for legislation to force women back into the shoving coat hangers into their uteruses like the "good ole days." (I know that is graphic but women have done that.)

I would like to end abortion. And do you know how? With crazy, liberal ideas such as education and adoption. *gasp*

I still live in a nation where sex is promoted to young males. Meanwhile, women are kept so sheltered from sex, many think that if her partner "pulls out" or if she “jumps up and down” she cannot get pregnant.

Parents refuse to talk to their children about sex and the respect that must be involved. Sex is not allowed to be taught in schools until many kids are already having it or until the kids feel they have seen enough on HBO to know what they are supposed to do.

And even then, most of the "education" is simply anatomy. I mean, why not teach 5 year olds how to plug in a toaster, but not teach them what happens when you stick a knife in the toaster.?

Girls still believe "it doesn't feel as good" is a good reason to sacrifice their heath and possibly their future by being a single mother before graduating high school. For anyone who wants proof:
http://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result;_ylt=AnwLdmCARWh826gveCh9ceYjzKIX;_ylv=3?p=can+i+be+pregnent+if

There are a few tens of thousands more questions if you spell "pregnant" correctly, but many more interesting ones from people who cannot spell it.

The next step is for people who are anti-choice to get out there and adopt some children! How many more women do you think would carry mistaken pregnancies to term if they knew that a system was in place that allowed children to live with people who love them?

No one wants to do that. We want to keep single parents from adopting (even if they have plenty of money and a good support system,) keep single-sex couples from adopting (even though they are perfectly capable of providing a loving and supportive home,) and meanwhile, all the anti-choice people are too busy having their own children instead of taking the chance to adopt a wonderful child who desperately needs a home.

So yeah, if you are pro life, do something bout it other than demanding a system that refuses to:

1.) teach young males about the respect and responsibilities of a sexual relationship

2.) refuses to teach women to respect themselves, understand their own sexuality and to have the knowledge to protect themselves

3.) denies the uneducated children who get pregnant (thanks to our lack of honest sexual education) to protect themselves and their future

4.) all while ignoring the discarded living children who will have no sense of family or love during their entire childhood and adolescence. (Growing up in a foster home statistically causes serious emotional and psychological problems for many children, while living in a gay or single-parent household statistically does not.)

Sorry for the ridiculously long answer.
But I do hope I gave some food for thought for anyone who took the time to read this.
:)

P.s. I will try to find the rest of the stats, but something like 14% of all males in high school believe that if you buy her diner, it is not rape.

Somewhere aroud 7-10% of high school females believe the same.

Answer 2

I am a vegetarian and I am totally against abortion. my theory is that you don't cover a mistake be committing another one (IE two wrongs don't make a right) why kill an innocent human that has not yet had time to live? In my opinion it's rather stupid that someone does not eat meat, then is in favor of butchering a fetus! that one human who could have been aborted could one day turn out to be a great human being, then why end it's life just because someone did not feel like having a kid? Why are so many people having unprotected sex or sex before marriage if they are not ready for the consequences? In my country abortion is not legal, and that partially explains the fact that there aren't many teenage pregnancies. My country is also very catholic, so not many people believe in abortion here either, which is a good thing.
For the vegan and vegetarian people out there who are in favor, think about this, you are ready to stop eating meat to save an innocent animal, so that's already good, but isn't human life more precious? then why kill it?

Answer 3

Actually, you raise a good point. If I won't eat a lowly shrimp, which is arguably not sentient, how could I possibly advocate the destruction of a human life, even if it's not fully formed?

On the other hand, I am the only vegan in my circle of friends and I am not very militant. I believe strongly in my own convictions, but recognize the society I live in. I try to show people a better way by example and quiet persuasion. So that would bring up the issue of how exactly I would express my distaste for abortion. I also happen to be an atheist and I absolutely can't stand Christian fundamentalists, who, among other things, believe god created animals for us to exploit. I wouldn't protest with them.

So what's a vegan to do?

Answer 4

That is a very good question. Star for you. Anyways, I am a vegetarian and I do not believe in abortion at all. I think they just should be smart and not have sex in the first place! Plus, if one of the reasons you are a vegan is that you think killing animals is wrong, humans are animals too! We have feelings. Especially little babies. It's terrible. I hope I helped answer your question.

Answer 5

This question has been answered so well and so thoroughly by Prodigy, Lillyian and Veggietart that there is almost nothing left to say. Thanks you three.

I'm a vegan, and I'm pro-choice. I don't see what the two issues have to do with each other.

In countries where abortion is illegal it still happens; tales of knitting needles and coat hangers are horrific but true. Countless desperate women have died in this way.

It is poorer women who suffer when abortion is illegal - rich women can always buy abortions, and can afford childcare if they don't.

Nobody, NOBODY uses abortion as contraception. Abortion is not something any woman goes into lightly - it is a horrible experience (yes I have had one).

It is a woman's right to control her own fertility.

Answer 6

Yeah.. I've heard people having this debate - including vegans and non-vegetarians. My dad thinks that it's ridiculous for a person to be vegan and caring so much about animals, but when it comes to a human child's life, they say to just get rid of it.

But I don't see it that way. I would be pro-animal abortion if animals could speak to us and say that they didn't want their fetuses to be born. But animals can't speak to us. Human mothers, however, can. I feel that women have the right to have an abortion if they wanted to. I personally would not want to have an abortion myself, but if I felt like I had to, I would want the choice to be there for me. I feel like it is MY body, and I would have to be holding this fetus - later human - inside of me for 9 months, then take care of it for 18 years+. That is a huge life committment.

I feel very strongly about safe sex, protection and whatnot, but sometimes accidents just happen. The condom breaks. Something went wrong with the pill. Two lovers just got a little too carried away. Or worst of all - rape. Women shouldn't have to pay the consequences of raising a child in this world if they are NOT READY FOR IT. My friend just had a baby. She's 21 and unmarried. Her 'boyfriend' is a horrible father, who would rather play video games than help out his daughter. This is the problem with so many young people having babies these days. My friend is incredibly smart (4.0 GPA) and was going to be a doctor, but now has to take care of her baby all by herself. She probably will not be able to do many of the things that she wanted to do because of having a baby at such a young age.

Getting back to the question (I got a little carried away)... I feel like being vegan and being pro-abortion are two different things. I basically feel like if we don't need to do something that is wrong or hurtful, then we shouldn't do it at all. We already know that we do not need to eat meat or use their bodies for anything. We have gone through the industrial revolution. We know how to make clothing out of cotton, instead of animal skins. So we don't need to hurt and kill animals for our well being. We can do very fine without them!

As for killing fetuses... I've taken many science classes, and fetuses are not fully developed babies for a long while. They cannot feel pain for up to a certain point in the pregnancy (unlike animals who very clearly show that they feel pain).

I am against abortions in the third trimester, or, the time when a baby would be viable outside of the womb, which usually begins around 22 weeks. At that point, you might as well just have the baby and either take care of it, or put it up for adoption.

The end. :)

Answer 7

Philosophy 101: Most rational people agree that the best course of action is the one that reduces or eliminates suffering. So just as it's wrong to boil a chicken alive, it's also wrong to force a woman to continue a pregnancy against her will.

It's quite sad that the United States is laughed at by more civilized countries because many there think a blob of cells outweighs a woman's rights to her body. It's unthinkable. The United States is also considered the fattest country on Earth, largely because Americans eat so much meat. Common sense is the best medicine for the anti-choice and obesity epidemics.

Answer 8

I'm vegan. I definetly wouldn't say I'm "pro-abortion", this issue is especially hard for me being an adoptive parent, but I do think a woman needs to make that decision for herself, and not be judged, and in our society making abortion illegal wouldn't make sense.

I guess I feel the same way about eatting meat though. Just because I personally think it's wrong, and wouldn't do it myself, doesn't mean I have the right to judge others who choose to.

Answer 9

I am a vegetarian, and am most definately pro-choice.
Think about it;
Animals raised for meat get no life, they get no fun, no pleasure. They're geneticly altered and do not live "normal" lives. They're kept in tiny stalls or cages in cruel environments. Why would I encourage that?
Unwanted children are more than likely abused. They end up in foster care and are unhappy. Unwanted pregnancies that are not aborted, can make women bitter, and they can take it out on the child. The kid will more than likely not have a shot at a happy, healthy life. Why would I encourage that?
I've had one abortion. Date rape. Why should women have to deal with consequences when the action was not their choice to begin with?

Answer 10

A. Only. Should only be used as a last option. Women need to be fully counseled before they make this decision and be presented w/ other options. I fully support the 24hr waiting period that congress has proposed. Planned Parenthood is the devil, I hope their empire burns to the ground. No abortions after 10 weeks should be performed unless the mother's life is in danger.

Answer 11

I am both vegetarian and highly anti-abortion.. I mean.. a life is a life.. why should a human life be any less valuable than an animal life?? Not judging anyone but when I hear vegetarians that are okay with abortion I can't help that it sounds hipocritical to me.. But that's just me.

EXCEPT in the case of the mother's life being in danger if she carries to term, or some rape cases, I am sorry but I cannot personally see any way that abortion is not selfish. Someone screws around (whatever happened to virginity before marriage? I'm 27 and proud to be saving myself) when they're not ready to take responsibility for a child, and then a child is murdered because of they couldn't control themselves. I just don't see anyway that abortion is not selfish... But that's just me..

I know I'll get some thumbs down for this answer.. but oh well.. you asked for our opinion.. I have a right to mine and respect your right to yours..

Baby's heart usually beating by the time that a woman realizes she's pregnant.

It's not a woman's "Choice" because it's NOT her body. IT is another human being, who just happens to be growing in her womb.