Reproductive Justice as It Applies to Nonhuman Animals

By Carsen Lenthall & Emma Gruby

Content Warning: graphic descriptions relating to sexual and physical violence and abuse

It’s now been three years since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June of 2022. This decision eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion, opening the door for state governments to restrict the reproductive freedom of millions of U.S. human residents capable of pregnancy. Since this ruling, 22 states have passed laws banning or heavily restricting access to abortion services that were previously protected under Roe v. Wade. In these states, many people, especially women, aren’t allowed to make certain decisions pertaining to their own body and life. They could legally be forced to carry and birth another human being into this world, potentially causing drastic harm to both their physical and mental health. Pregnancy alone poses many threats to a pregnant person’s body and mind. These include increased risks of iron-deficiency anemia, anxiety, depression, diabetes, heart disease, infection, and more. Childbirth also brings with it an increased chance of death. In 2022, 817 women in the United States are reported to have died from maternal causes. Pregnancy and childbirth are dangerous and immensely tolling processes that many people are happy to take on, but many are understandably not. Forcing women to endure these processes that dramatically change their bodies and lives, altering some of the most intimate parts of themselves, only emphasizes the long list of health concerns related to pregnancy. These welfare concerns are included here to illustrate the gravity of potential harm from forced pregnancy and why many people make the decision to get an abortion. However, regardless of the amount of suffering an individual may endure from forced pregnancy, it’s still forced. And regardless of the reason one may have for getting an abortion, it’s still their body and their choice. The right to abortion is a rights issue, not just a welfare one. 

The concept of rights in moral philosophy is grounded in the recognition and respect of the independent value of each individual. A right signifies an entitlement to something, especially something that is fundamental to one’s nature and interests. For example, the freedoms of thought and movement are fundamental aspects of a conscious, autonomous creature’s nature and interests. Recognizing these qualities as rights respects the inherent value of an individual, allowing them to behave in ways that are natural and fundamental to who they are. Additionally, one’s rights are not dependent on the value or interests provided by others, but rather on the qualities the individual personally possesses. A right also applies universally to all individuals who have the same fundamentally justifying quality. Human beings, for instance, generally each have their own conscious experience that contributes to their own well-being, to which they have sole possession. This is a fundamental part of existence for most humans, and protecting this personal agency is vital in promoting equity and fairness and respecting the inherent value that exists within individuals. Therefore, in holding true to this standard, it is because we are all autonomous, aware, free-thinking, feeling beings with a body and life that are solely our own, that we each have a right to exercise that body and life as our independent minds so wish. In other words, our conscious, sentient agency gives us a right to autonomy. We are individuals, not objects. It is for this same reason that nonhuman animals such as cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats, etc. should be included in the fight for reproductive justice.

When it comes to the moral value of individuals and their rights, many people assume or are taught to believe that there exists a clear dividing line between humans and ‘animals’. It is also important to note that this imagined line between “human” and “animal” has varied throughout colonial history, often being used as a tool to subjugate and dehumanize anyone who is not a member of the dominant class, including people of color, women, and nonhuman animals, among others. Today, while the term “human” is generally understood to encapsulate all members of the human species, the use of animalistic language to dehumanize and degrade members of marginalized groups persists. The heart of this problem lies not in who is considered “human” or “animal,” however, but in the moral dividing line between humans and ‘animals’ itself, a belief which remains heavily prevalent and crucial in the subordination of nonhuman animals. People draw this line and try to justify it using various criteria. Some draw it based on a belief in humans being the only rational species, some base it on human individuality and personal agency, some base it on the ability of humans to form complex social bonds, while others don’t think much of it at all. Regardless, all of these foundations underlie, at minimum, the same commonly held belief that human life takes inherent priority over all other forms of life. The more that is understood about nonhuman animals, however, the more what was seen as a clear line begins to fade, eroding any rational justification for inherent human priority.

Current scientific understanding of animal behavior and cognition strongly demonstrates that numerous nonhuman animal species possess many of the same qualities that we, as humans, often use to justify our superiority, special treatment, and even rights. These qualities include the ability to experience physical and emotional pain and pleasure, engage in rational thought, have individual personalities, have a sense of self and time, and have compassion for others. These qualities are found in—but not limited to—dogs, cats, dolphins, whales, monkeys, giraffes, octopuses, various species of birds, and, yes, even farmed animals, the ones we mutilate, confine, violate, and slaughter in the billions each year. Cows, for example, experience fear and anxiety; they play and show signs of love, make logical judgments, express empathy toward others, and have individual personalities and independent preferences. Pigs, too, experience a wide range of emotions, engage in creative play, use tools, have a sense of time and self, understand the perspectives of others, exhibit empathy, and understand symbolic language. And despite “bird brain” stereotypes, chickens have complex forms of communication, make logical inferences, demonstrate self-awareness, understand perspectives of others, have a range of emotions, exhibit empathy, and have individual personalities. The more we learn about the abilities and minds of nonhuman animals, the similarities they share with us and that align with our value systems become much more apparent.

Those who place value on the ability to experience emotion yet discredit most nonhuman animals fail to recognize that the emotional pain that is studied and seen in nonhuman animals is staggeringly similar to human experiences. This can include stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues when they are subjugated to the horrific conditions of systemic exploitation. One example of a complex emotional response to a situation is seen within one of the most studied animals: rats. Rats are relation-oriented creatures; in order to live a fulfilling life, they need meaningful connections with others. Rats live in families and are strongly emotionally bonded to each other. This is why when researchers wanted to test rats’ emotional responses, they trapped one rat and observed what another would do. Bonded pairs continually attempted to rescue each other, even when there was an incentive not to. Both rats experienced emotional distress, and the freed one didn’t give up on their family member. 

An examination of nonhuman animal anatomy has shown that they have highly similar neurological structures to those of humans. Mammals in particular have the same general nervous system structure and neurochemicals as humans, meaning that they experience very similar emotions and physical sensations to ours. Each mammalian brain contains a cerebral cortex, a cerebellum, and a brain stem. These brains also each contain a frontal lobe that is used for executive functions, such as cognitive skills, including the “capacity to plan, organize, initiate, self-monitor and control one’s responses in order to achieve a goal.” Researchers have also found that “animal and human nervous systems react in similar ways in fearful situations”. Mammals, birds, and reptiles each have a thalamus and cortex, which are responsible for perceiving pain. This means that when a pig has their testicles ripped out without anesthetics, the pig has a very similar experience of pain that a human would under the same conditions. 

Each display of animal behavior and cognition, supported by an analysis of their anatomy, reveals individuals capable of physical and emotional suffering, self-awareness, empathy, logical reasoning, and individuality. These qualities demonstrate that many nonhuman animals, like humans, are autonomous, aware, free-thinking, feeling beings with bodies and lives that are solely their own. They exercise this agency to make conscious decisions and interact with their environment, having the capacity to suffer immensely when this agency is violated. This is what gives a person a right to maintain the authority over the body they solely possess, so shouldn’t nonhuman animals who possess those same qualities deserve the same rights? If we are to stand by the concept and promise of rights, and remain consistent in those beliefs, then yes, nonhuman animals, too, must have a right to bodily autonomy. In the words of philosopher Tom Regan, “The basic similarity is simply this: we are each of us the experiencing subject of a life, a conscious creature having an individual welfare that has importance to us whatever our usefulness to others” (Regan, 1989). Each of these lives has an inherent value, and should therefore have an inherent right to that life and their own autonomy. Despite this, female nonhuman animals in particular have historically been and are still routinely left out of the reproductive justice conversation while the animal agriculture industry horrifically exploits their reproductive abilities in some of the most brutal, inhumane conditions imaginable.

Farmed animals suffer routinely from physical, sexual, and psychological abuse for the production of consumer items such as meat, dairy, and eggs. In order to ensure an ample supply of products, these animals are bred into existence by the billions. This results in mass sexual abuse and exploitation of animal reproductive systems. The way farmed animals are created is infused with rape* and trauma. Nonhuman animal minds often process these experiences in a very similar way that humans do. These nonhuman individuals routinely have depression, anxiety, and PTSD from horrid experiences.

 The examples below, while not representing every process of animal exploitation, summarize the predominant standard practices that are used to maximize profit in the animal agriculture industry. 

When a female calf is born, she is torn from her mother very shortly after birth. On dairy farms, “65% of all calves—and 100% of newborn males—are taken from their mothers within hours of birth”. Once away from her mom, the baby calf is put into an isolated pen where she is fed a ration of milk supplement, water, and feed until she is ready to be impregnated. Once she is around 25 months old, she is restrained by farmers to be raped. Her uterus is penetrated by a plastic or metal tube filled with bull sperm. Oftentimes, farmers will also stick a hand up her anus in order to loosen the area for a more effective insertion. For the next nine months she will be growing a new life. After birth, our mama cow is lactating, but because farmers want her milk for themselves, they steal her baby. Her baby boy is sold for veal. The calf is killed when he is 16-18 weeks old because his body is worthless to the dairy industry. For the next 10 months, she is milked by farmers and machines. Her udders often become sore, bloody, and she has up to a 75% chance of developing an infection, which can also lead to death or culling. Once her milk production slows, she is artificially inseminated again. This cycle continues for around 5 years until her body is strained to the point of degradation. She gets weak at this point from being forcibly impregnated and milked. Now, since her reproductive system has been so tolled to the point of collapse, she is sent to the slaughterhouse for meat, 15 years before her natural lifespan would have been complete. This experience is not isolated nor rare. It is an industry standard that millions of cows in the United States are currently experiencing. 

Cows are far from the only animals exploited for their reproductive system. Pigs are also forced into pregnancy in order to keep up with the demand for their flesh. In the U.S., a female pig is artificially inseminated by forcing a rod full of semen into her uterus. Once she’s pregnant, she’s put into a gestation crate. This is a small cage in which she has no room to turn around nor move. She’s kept there for four months, until she’s ready to give birth. She’s then moved to a farrowing crate, where she also doesn’t have room to move. She’s confined there while her babies are born and until they are done nursing. The piglets will nurse for about three weeks until they are taken from her to be slaughtered for meat in a few months. Once her babies have been stolen, she’s impregnated again, and the process starts over. She lives in these small cages for over two-thirds of her life. The repeated rape (forced impregnation) and pregnancy takes a heavy toll on her body. Her natural lifespan of around 15 years is cut down to three. When her body stops yielding “productive” litters, her throat is slit or she’s painfully gassed to death for meat. 

Chickens are also widely exploited. Eggs are the product of a female chicken’s reproductive system. Before selective breeding, a wild hen used to produce around a dozen eggs per year. Now, after centuries of this selective breeding, a hen produces around 300. This intensive breeding of excess egg-laying leads to a great amount of pain. Because her system is overworked, her reproduction decreases after only a year or two. Since she’s no longer meeting egg quotas, she’s slaughtered for meat rather than living out her natural lifespan of around 15 years. For 84.2% of egg-laying chickens, their entire lives are spent crammed into small, dark wire boxes. Living their entire lives in these cages causes their feet to become sore, cracked, and deformed. These animals possess empathy and the ability to communicate and dream, yet they’re treated as objects. They’re kept suffering in dark warehouses and killed after their egg production slows to less than one a day. 

Horrors of forced impregnation, artificial insemination, stolen babies, forced lactation, and execution make up the life that is imposed upon billions of these individuals. Despite being just as much an individual as any human, each farmed nonhuman animal is treated like an object, mostly for human indulgence and pleasure. As feminists and reproductive justice advocates, we argue for the rights of women to be upheld and respected, which is critical to equity and justice. But how can we expect to achieve a just world view if we don’t also address the most widespread violation and exploitation of female bodies; one that stems from the same motivations of patriarchy, greed, and power? The truth is: we can’t. We must be consistent in the beliefs we hold. Otherwise, we fall into the same prejudice pattern that results in systemic group-affiliated discrimination and oppression. The argument for autonomy championed by feminist activists derives from values of individual liberty and self-determination. This same argument must be applied to respecting the autonomy of all female individuals, regardless of species. As we’ve seen, there’s a wide array of animal species that possess many of the same qualities we regard as making human life worthy of moral value and rights. Therefore, to attribute value solely along species lines is arbitrary and finds its roots in the same forms of prejudice found throughout human history. Upon recognizing this pattern of prejudice, as has been done before, we can begin to look past our differences with others. We can then critically analyze the similarities we share, identifying which ones are actually relevant in determining moral value and consideration. For example, ask yourself, What makes my life (or human life) valuable? If the answer is along the lines of having the ability to feel love and joy, to build connections with others, and/or to exercise freedom, then nonhuman animal life is valuable for the same reasons. Most notably, all of these stem from the ability to experience. The ability to experience is what, most literally, gives life its value. And this is something all sentient beings have in common.

We must consider the harm that is done to these nonhuman animals. We must include the suffering of each individual in our moral judgments and take action accordingly. In regard to morally relevant characteristics, such as those used to establish fundamental rights to autonomy, it’s evident there is no clear line that separates humans from ‘animals’. The reality that all too often gets overlooked is that we are all animals. We all have our very own complex life, personal experience, and perspective on the world. We’re all individuals. As stated earlier, rights apply universally, and it goes against the concept of rights to advocate for one group over another solely due to arbitrary differences in inherent identity. It’s for these reasons that we must collectively recognize the egregious suffering endured by the billions of nonhuman animals exploited every year for their reproductive capabilities, and how this is a violation of their most basic rights. To create a more just and kind world, we must include nonhuman animals in the battle for autonomy and choice. This can start on an individual level by removing animal products from not only your diet but all items you purchase, supporting local animal rights legislative efforts, and including advocacy for nonhuman animals in your activism, making it all-inclusive.

Furthermore, upon recognizing the horror of reproductive control and exploitation in the animal agriculture industry, animal rights activists should also seek to understand and fight for reproductive justice for humans. This is especially important following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, Trump’s return to the White House, the Republican control of Congress, and the threat of Project 2025. Together, as feminists, reproductive justice advocates, and animal rights activists, we should be united in a common goal to fight until all individuals’ rights are protected, regardless of inherent identity.

*Rape: penetration of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another individual, without the consent of the victim.