If vegetarians are so worried about the lives of animals, are they also worried about the lives of the unborn?

Question

If you are a vegetarian for reasons of ethics, are you also pro-life? If not why? Aren't you being hypocritical?

Answer 1

Your question would play out differently in other cultures where veganism is a logical outgrowth of a spiritual path. And in those cultures, abortions would not be considered because there is a reverence for ALL life. The Jains would be one such group as well as certain sects of Buddhist monks.

That the simple-minded would look at your question as "The 2 subjects are seperate" is what one would expect from "vegans/vegetarians of convenience".

And of course the simplistic followup question"
"In what way is abortion related to food" is a good example of the non-integrated way veg*nism is looked at in modern society.

They simply don't see the connection!!!! Which is why the originator of the quotes feels justified in selling his hay to those who kill cattle for meat, or picks on those young veg*ns who work at McDonalds.

It would be interesting to have this question in a forum of "true" veg*ns and they would be quite surprised that you would even have to ask it.

Answer 2

I am vegetarian and totally prochoice.

I believe that there are already plenty of unwanted children in this world. Who would pro life legislation effect? Not the rich or middle class, but the poor, young, etc.

What would happen to all these children? Think about all the abortions that are performed every year, all these abortions would be children. I believe there would be an increase in child abuse, possibly the reintroduction of orphanages. I think it is tragic enough that many children grow up in foster homes without parents, and eventually end up aging out of the system. In a way I think pro-choice is pro-life, I am for the children already born into this world that live without the security and love of a family. We need to fix these problems first.

What I find hypocritical is the pro-lifers. How many people that are pro-life have adopted African American babies, sick, drug addicted babies, mentally/physically handicapped, or any children at all? Not many, I also find it interesting that people in America will go all the way to China to adopt a healthy white baby instead of adopting an African American baby in the United States.

I can't think of anything worse than a child coming into this world unwanted by their parents, and even though there are some parents that would love and care for the child after they gave birth, there are many more that would resent and most likely abuse and neglect the child.

We are talking about poor, young mothers that are left to raise these children alone. 52% of women obtaining abortions in the U.S. are younger than 25(and this is an older stat., it probably higher by now.) Who pays for these children, not a struggling unwed mother. In 2002, 1.29 million abortions took place . Image these all as children, what would happen to them?

Also not all people who receive abortions were irresponsible when they had sex, Fifty-four percent of women having abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported using their method inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users reported correct use. Contraceptives are not a fail safe. All is well and good to say you wouldn't abort a fetus if you are well established(monetary, economically, career, husband/wife) when/if your contraceptive method fails, but it is much harder to do if you are low income, young and uneducated.

It is easy to say abortions should not happen, but think of it in terms of children that would actually be in this world. I won't even go into the statistics about adults that come from families where they were neglected, abused and unwanted. I don't only think we would see an increase of children in foster care, but an increase down the road of criminals.

Answer 3

I am vegetarian and the very idea of abortion makes me uncomfortable.

But I have no intention of picketing abortion clinics (or McDonald's, for that matter). I'm not interested in dictating how other people should live their lives.

I have no idea why--but there were Pro Life people with signs standing in front of my house on two occasions. The first time I politely asked them to go away and they did. The second time there were a lot more of them and I called the police. The police said it was a lawful protest and there weren't going to stop it. They never came back again and I never did know why they picketed in front of my house--some history of the previous owners, perhaps?

Answer 4

The only thing thing that the issues have in common is that both are choices that each person must make for themselves! I do not feel like I am being a hypocrite! I am not pro abortion but everyone that makes the decision has to base it upon their own beliefs & individual circumstances* A woman who has been raped should not have to carry a reminder of this horrific crime for the rest of her life*

Answer 5

It's odd how some people assume all veg*ns are of one mind, having the same position on all issues. I see from glancing at your Q&A that you are a christian who, as well as being anti-choice, doesn't believe in evolution and opposes sex outside marriage and gay rights. Not all christians hold those views, and christians have much more in common than veg*ns do.

In countries where abortion is illegal women have abortions anyway - dangerous, life-threatening and sometimes fatal abortions. This used to happen in countries where abortion is now legal, and still does where abortion is legal but in reality hard to get.

It is women without the money to buy safe abortions - something wealthy women have always been able to do, legal abortion or no - who died and continue to die, and I care about their lives, so I'm pro-choice. I'm a socialist, and for me it's a class issue.

I'm also strongly in favour of women being in control of their own lives and destinies, and an important part of this is control over their own fertility.

It's a nonsense to talk of women using abortion casually as a means of contraception - abortion is a hideous experience nobody would plan to go through. And with the best planning in the world, contraception sometimes fails.

And none of this has anything to do with being a vegan or vegetarian.

Answer 6

I care more about actual lives than potential lives. I wish the people who call themselves pro-life worry more about the children AFTER they are born, not before. I care more about the pregnant woman than the embryo/fetus she is carrying.

I believe in contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Prevent unwanted pregnancy and you prevent abortions (unless something goes terribly wrong, and the woman's life/health is at stake. But that's another issue).

Nobody is pro-abortion. There are people who would never dream of having an abortion but would not presume to force another woman into parenthood against her will. I am grateful I have never had to make that choice and hope I never do.

And how can you be pro-life if you eat dead animals. How can you be pro-life and pro-war?

Answer 7

There is no correlation between a person's eating preferences and their stance on abortion. Nor does a vegan's (or the related variants) food choice necessarily reflect their views on animal rights. Such correlation exists only in the minds of those who are naive or are otherwise poorly informed on the basic tenants of various life styles and the motivators for choices. Your question has no relevance beyond "pushing people's buttons" for what seems to be an immature personal thrill.

Answer 8

Vegetarian is about animal rights.
Pro-life/choice is about womans rights/unborn babies "rights".
The problem I have with other people saying abortion should be illegal, is...
If some lady wants to get an abortion for any reason, HER own reason, it is HER choice, NOT mine, or anyone elses.
If I decide, for who knows what, if I ever were to get pregnant, that I want an abortion, I want that choice, I don't want someone else to tell me MY choice on that matter.
I choose to be vegan to stop the suffering of animals I would have been consuming. That I no longer consume. It is my choice. If all the sudden SODA were made illegal, due to the causing of obesity(eventual death) of children, do you think everyone would agree with that? of course not, people would say its their choice to drink soda, and if they want to they should be able to.
too many things. this topic makes me blab crazy...

Answer 9

Are you a hypocrite for being pro-life and eating meat?

Answer 10

The 2 subjects are seperate.

Many people are against murder, but support war, are they all hypocrites ? If so, you've just hit about 98% of the USA population.

this is the vegetarian and vegan section in FOOD and DRINK.

In what way is abortion related to food ???