donnEanimali
Women and non-human animals: objects of oppression, subjects of liberation.
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(15-11-2009)
Vegetarians! Vegans! Defend the right to abortion!
Declaration in support of the mobilization of the 8th of March 2008 in Italy.
Translated by Elizabeth Cherry.
Many people think that those who do not eat animals or animal products are motivated by a general respect towards “life”; notably, in discussions on the question of abortion, people expect vegetarians and vegans to forcibly support the absolute right of a fetus to be born, including in cases against the will of the mother. Certain vegetarians and vegans probably see things this way, but not us, and right now, in this moment when there is an attack against the self-determination of women in maternal matters, becoming more and more violent in Italy, we wish to add our voice to those of all the other Italian subjects who currently mobilize to defend the right of women to terminate their pregnancy.
By refusing to eat animals, we refuse the “essentialist” conception of life that judges only human life to be respected and defended, even if its purely potential forms (embryos and weeks-old fetuses). For us, it is the sentient individuals who are worthy of being respected and defended, meaning those who are subjects of a conscious life, capable of feeling sensations, of having ideas, of maintaining emotional and social relations with other subjects, who have a history—even very short—made of past experiences and future expectations. The billions of non-human animals killed every year for meat consumption and other animal products fully correspond to this definition, and this is why we have chosen to not participate in their death by becoming vegetarians and vegans.
We know that our idea, that non-human adult lives are more worthy of respect than other purely potential human lives, might warrant the accusation of being “anti-humans.” We firmly reject this accusation, for two reasons.
First, because the termination of a pregnancy is a case of conflict between the interests of two human lives, of which one—that of the fetus—is a simple biological existence, but the other—that of the mother—is a historical existence, with a past and personal products: in supporting the right for women to abort if they deem it necessary, we recognize the value of their capacity to make responsible choices about their motherhood. With meat, in contrast, the conflict of interests is so disproportional—the life of the animal eaten against a simple question of the habit and/or taste of the person who eats it—that the priority attributed to a human does not recognize any other value than that of useless cruelty.
Second, because by criticizing the raising of animals with the intention of transforming them into food products, we oppose the unhealthy idea according to which animals only exist as examples of certain biological functions (reproduction and fattening) and not as individuals. On the basis of this critique, we recognize the same unhealthy idea at work in the discourse of those who want to prohibit women from deciding if they want to be a mother or not; this discourse negates the emotional dimension of maternity and reduces it to the production of a fetus, to be defended at all costs, and chains women to their biological function as procreating recipients, refusing to see them as individuals with thousands of capacities and desires. It is no coincidence that this patriarchal ideology has always interrelated femininity and animality: we, we want to liberate both from this yoke.
For these reasons, this 8 March, we encourage a vegetarian and vegan presence in the Italian protests in which women’s claims will be expressed: we want to raise our voice against the patriarchy, in defense of secularism, and, of course, against speciesism.
Vegetarians! Vegans! Hit the streets 8 March!