One of my professors recently claimed that he predicts, sometime in our lifetime or in the lifetime of the next generation, someone will receive the death penalty for killing an animal. Maybe so. I think, however, that the argument can be made that this already happens – and that, in fact, it gets worse; perfectly innocent people are killed because they might kill animals…

If you think about it, this is exactly what is being encouraged by those who call themselves “pro-choice for the sake of the environment.” Some – perhaps most – have a self-interested approach, like the Optimum Population Trust, arguing primarily that it is in the human species’ best interests to maintain a stable population. Many animal-rights activists are actively pro-life, as well, and see any other point of view as inherently contradictory. There are those, however, who definitely approach population control under the aspect of protecting animal species.

When discussing the issue at hand, the World Animal Foundation suggests that, “[o]n a personal level, there are a number of things each of us can do. Most importantly, we can control our own fertility, which means having two or fewer children.” There is no specific approval of abortion; rather, it is left up to the individuals how they wish to “control” their fertility.

If even one couple, on reading this or similar suggestions, is led to have an abortion, I would argue that we are already witnessing capital punishment. And not only punishment for having harmed an animal, but punishment for having the potential to do so, though the unborn child is still innocent.