Would they watch a video of an abortion?
“Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation and cruelty towards animals for food, clothing or any other purpose. All animals are just like us. Animals are living, feeling beings. Look into their eyes and ask yourself; are they things or persons? Stop the demand. End the violence.” – Go Vegan Scotland.
There are an estimated 540,000 self-described vegans living in the UK. They reside within a community which condemns the use of any animal product for diet, entertainment, cosmetics or clothing. With their promotional pages cluttered with images of dead chicks and videos of Chloe the cow "enjoying her life", it is clear that vegans place the sanctity of life on a pedestal; animal life, that is.
Speciesism
Visit any vegan information stall lurking on your local high street and you will hear a concept present in most of their arguments; speciesism. To the vegan, speciesism is the root of all oppression. It is an ideology in which one species believes themselves to be superior to another species thus leading to their mistreatment. According to vegan ideology, eating a cheese string is speciesism. Wearing your sheepskin gloves is speciesism. Using your bee wax lip-balm is speciesism. To use any animal related product for your own convenience or enjoyment is a choice that no human is entitled to, it is a choice that cannot be defended.
What about human life?
However, question a vegan (not all but very many) on their opinion regarding the destruction of innocent human life through abortion and you will hear a rapid change of tune.
To the average vegan, abortion is still about choice. Abortion is still the right of a woman. The choice to have steak pie for dinner is a monstrous thought. However, the choice to kill unborn humans is not for anyone to judge.
The chemical killing of an unborn child is unimportant. Vacuuming an unborn child through a suction tube is to be supported. Dismembering an unborn child piece by piece with forceps is demanded. Lethally injecting an unborn child’s heart to birth a dead baby is celebrated as liberation. However, milking of a cow to produce Dairylee Dunkers for your lunch break is unspeakable. Taking your children to the zoo to feed Pedro the donkey is unthinkable. Hypocrisy? I think so.
Ignoring the slaughter of the unborn
In October of 2018, vegan activists staged a silent protest in the Tesco meat aisle. To spread awareness of animal suffering their protest consisted of mournfully displaying pictures of farm animals captioned, “I want to live.” That month, an average of 17,000 unborn children in Britain would be killed.
In November of 2018 vegan activists stormed a steakhouse in Brighton. They disrupted diners by playing videos of dead animals whilst chanting “it’s not food, its violence.” That day, if an average day, 600 unborn children in Britain would have been killed.
Who would do such a thing??
This disturbingly hypocritical ideology is becoming an increasing part of our daily life. It was in my second year of study when in the lecture hall I overheard a pro-abortion conversation among a group of short-fringed females. Whilst one was discussing the importance of abortion on demand, she paused to reflect with disgust that she could smell the meat seeping from the canteen, followed by hateful remarks towards people who could do ‘such a thing’ to an innocent animal. Re-commencing the conversation, she discussed why late term abortions were a human right whilst displaying her ankle positioned coat- hanger tattoo.
Unborn life matters too
As sentient beings, animals should be treated with adequate care. No civilised person would wish to see animals suffer unnecessarily. No civilised person would wish for any living creature to be abused or painfully exploited. However, that viewpoint must extend to protect human life also.
Boldly shaming diners for eating a T-bone steak, whilst unashamedly supporting the dismemberment of an unborn human is a sinister form of hypocrisy which cannot be ignored. To be vegan and pro-choice, does not value all living creatures equally, it actively devalues a certain form of human life. It demotes an unborn human to be worth less than a fly. To be vegan and pro-choice is to commit your own form ‘speciesism.’