What is the vegan stance on abortion? Can vegans be pro-choice? This video delves into the moralistic minefield of the abortion debate in relation to vegan ethics. We’ll look at the various arguments posed by either side.
Nothing quite kills the mood at a dinner party like discussions of religion, politics, abortion, or veganism. So I thought it would be a bang-up idea if in THIS video, we discuss all four! (I don’t have much of a social life…)
Among the litany of objections to and arguments against veganism, from your standard “plants have feelings” and “but lions eat meat,” lies an area of discourse not so easily answered or discounted: the vegan stance on abortion. [tweet this]
The topics of abortion and veganism do share common ground. Both are decidedly polarizing issues quick to spark heated debate, [tweet this] have passionately outspoken individuals on either side of the issue, often utilize similar tactics within their outreach, education, and demonstrations, and involve a strong focus on the concepts of sentience, individuality, pain perception and consciousness.
Before we dive into this moralistic minefield, let me first state that I will not be settling the abortion debate. Sorry to disappoint.
What I will do is present the various arguments posed, along with perceived logical inconsistencies, and scientific insights. I will also be using the common terms of pro-life and pro-choice though I realize that either side has issues with these and have their own terminology. This is merely to simplify the rhetoric in order to address the topic at hand.
I’d like to add that there is no vegan consensus or official doctrine on abortion. Vegans, like the rest of the world’s population, hold very different beliefs outside of their refusal to participate in the exploitation of non-human animals. Views on abortion are often, but not always, heavily influenced by ones religious or spiritual practice and morals, which vary as wildly amongst vegans as non.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
In fact the issue of whether abortion is even relevant to veganism itself is hotly debated. While the abortion issue is, at least from my personal experience, most often thrown out as a diversion tactic intended to invalidate veganism as a whole, there remain a few very real and valid intersections to explore.
The disconnect most often perceived within the veganism and abortion debate is the pro-choice vegan. [tweet this] Let’s start at the surface and the most basic argument against pro-choice veganism: if vegans are against killing, then we have to be against all killing. The fallacy in this position is what’s called a false dilemma, posing a black and white reality when ample grey exists.
Even most peace-loving pacifists would defend themselves against an attacker and find no moral fault in the death of a perpetrator during a true kill-or-be-killed situation.
On the other side of the coin lies the most basic defense for pro-choice veganism: abortion is dealing with a fetus in utero, of which the sentience, consciousness and pain perception continues to be hotly debated, while veganism deals with beings who are undeniably sentient, conscious, and pain-perceiving. However, as we will soon see, this oversimplification fails to account for countless complex nuances, though it is without doubt the most striking divergence, and one to take into account.
When we start delving deeper into the abortion debate, the lines begin to blur even further.
The ability of a fetus to feel pain is a primary argument of the pro-life camp. Seeing as how the prevention of pain and suffering is a pillar of vegan ethics as well, it would appear that pro-choice vegans are left with quite the conundrum. If, in fact, a fetus can feel pain, then the born vs. unborn moral distinction fails. The key word being “if.”
Here’s one of the places the abortion debate lacks the clarity of veganism. Scientists still do not agree on fetal pain perception. A 2005 meta-analysis concluded that, “fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester.”[7]
A 2010 review by Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, stated that, “the fetus cannot experience pain in any sense prior [to 24 weeks].”[8][9]
The earliest estimate comes from Dr. Kanwaljeet S. Anand, something of an outlier in the field and oft-quoted by the pro-life cause.[10][11][12] Anand proposes a window of 18-24 weeks,[13][14] though he’s emphasized that, “fetal pain does not have much relevance for abortion, since most abortions are performed before the fetus is capable of experiencing pain,”[15] with only 1.5% of abortions occurring after 20 weeks in the United States.[16]
One element clouding the issue is the difference between nociception and pain, something I discuss more in-depth in my video “Do Fish Feel Pain.”[17] In short, there can be reaction to potentially painful or harmful stimuli without the experience of pain, and nociceptors, which appear as early as 7 weeks, are not in and of themselves capable of relaying pain.[18]
Of course, this uncertainty doesn’t exactly place pro-choice veganism in the clear. Many vegans believe that the ability of non-human animals to feel pain shouldn’t have to be scientifically proven to our satisfaction before we stop abusing them. Why conduct cruel studies when they make it glaringly obvious with crying out, trying to escape, flinching, struggling, and showing indicators of psychological stress? We should operate on the assumption that they can feel pain. So why then, does this courtesy not extend to a human fetus?
If pain alone were the issue, vegans would support the killing of unconscious animals and pro-lifers wouldn’t protest the abortion of fetuses prior to the development of pain perception. But both issues have additional layers, such as conscious awareness or sentience, and future life interests.
Vegans see the sentience of non-human animals, meaning their ability to feel, perceive and experience life subjectively, as a solid grounds for their protection. Often interchanged with “consciousness,” sentience in non-human animals is widely accepted among scientists, with over 2,500 studies and the release of an international Declaration of Consciousness in 2012.[19][20][21]
Similar to the variances in pain perception development, the certainty of sentience is lacking within the abortion debate. Still, as vegan activist Gary Yourofsky has stated, “sentience [isn’t] the only factor when deciding how we should treat other beings. (Even though trees, mountains, air and water are insentient life forces, I think they have a right NOT to be exploited and polluted and destroyed.)”[22]
Where the argument against pro-choice veganism really gains some ground is the discussion of life potential. Vegans, including myself, often argue that even if we could somehow, someway actually kill a non-human animal without any pain or awareness, it would still be unethical as we could be choosing to end their life prematurely. We do not see such an action as our choice, as personal choice is no longer personal when it involves the welfare of another.
How, then, can a vegan possibly support the choice to abort the potential life of a human? The argument that the fetus is not aware of a future won’t stand unless vegans also condone the killing of animals who are unaware or unconscious at the time of death. So have we circled back to the born vs. unborn divide? Again this becomes hazy with the uncertainty of pain and sentience.
There exists an element of self-defense congruent with vegan ideals that can be applied to abortion in the cases of rape and incest or when the life of the mother is at stake. But what about abortion out of inconvenience or financial strain? Or sex-selective abortions wherein female fetuses are aborted due to male cultural preference, a practice most often associated with China[23][24][25] and India,[26][27][28][29][30] but prevalent in many other countries where males increasingly outnumber females.[31][32][33] Is choosing to stop the potential life of a fetus for what could be termed one’s own comfort a parallel to meat eaters ending the lives of non-human animals for their own comfort?
Even more direct parallels exist. In my video “Is Lab Grown Meat Vegan,”[34] I discussed the harvesting methods for bovine fetal serum, a growth medium used within a wide range of laboratory experiments, along with fetal pig and fetal sheep serums. Bovine fetal serum is obtained by piercing and draining the beating heart of fetal calves who’ve been cut from their mothers’ wombs in slaughterhouses.
This practice was understandably met with horror and disgust from vegan viewers and even non-vegans. Were any of these vegans pro-choice, would this reaction be an indication of dissonance or hypocrisy? The study I cited went on in length about the potential pain perception of the bovine fetuses and referenced a general acceptance of 24 weeks for human fetus pain perception, and presented a figure of roughly 12 weeks, or 3 months for cows, who are more fully developed at birth than humans.[35]
Again the variances in situation may create a buffer for the pro-choice vegan given that bovine fetuses must be at least 3 months old to provide enough serum and are often 6 months or older when put through this procedure without any anesthesia, well beyond the point of pain perception. Additionally, it’s readily evident that a human mother procuring an abortion differs dramatically from cutting a living fetus from the body of a mother cow slaughtered against her will in order to drain the heart for profit.
I would like to bring up another wrinkle. While vegans believe in the rights of non-human animals, the majority, from what I have found, which is by no means conclusive, do seem to support the spaying and neutering of companion animals.[36][37][38] While this is most certainly a violation of their rights, it is not, as Gary Yourofsky has written,[39] a cruel practice when performed properly. He, along with many activists, argues that since the domestication of dogs and cats will not be undone anytime soon, spaying and neutering is a better alternative than the current cruel and needless deaths of millions of abandoned, unwanted companion animals due to overbreeding.[40]
Once again the parallel is by no means ideal, as our animal companions have no ability to make this choice for themselves, and spaying and neutering prevents a pregnancy while abortion ends one. I present this simply as an example of vegans being faced with an ethical ambiguity and supporting the restriction of animals’ reproductive rights.
At the more misanthropic end of the spectrum, since humanity continues to murder trillions of innocent beings every year, decimate the planet, and grow in population and demand for meat, could it be argued that stemming this proliferation at its root would actually be perfectly inline with vegan principles?
Any attempt to present a singular vegan view on abortion negates the diversity and variance of vegans themselves. Many vegans reject the aforementioned “animals vs. humans” dichotomy, seeing human and animal rights as inextricable – to be protected and fought for concurrently.
Something I personally find fascinating in this whole debate is the focus on whether vegans can be pro-choice. With all of the uncertainties inherent in fetal pain perception and sentience and the absolute certainties of non-human animal pain perception and sentience, it’s interesting that the more concrete question usually remains unasked: can non-vegans be pro-life?
As I said, I’m not going to settle the abortion debate—or even the veganism and abortion debate. Even with my attempts at simplifications, it’s evident how complex this dialogue can easily become.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the debate in the comments below!
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— Emily Moran Barwick
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“I would like to bring up another wrinkle. While vegans believe in the rights of non-human animals, the majority, from what I have found, which is by no means conclusive, do seem to support the spaying and neutering of companion animals.[36][37][38] While this is most certainly a violation of their rights, it is not, as Gary Yourofsky has written,[39] a cruel practice when performed properly. He, along with many activists, argues that since the domestication of dogs and cats will not be undone anytime soon, spaying and neutering is a better alternative than the current cruel and needless deaths of millions of abandoned, unwanted companion animals due to overbreeding.[40]
Once again the parallel is by no means ideal, as our animal companions have no ability to make this choice for themselves, and spaying and neutering prevents a pregnancy while abortion ends one. I present this simply as an example of vegans being faced with an ethical ambiguity and supporting the restriction of animals’ reproductive rights.”
I’m not yet sure how I feel about the sterilization of animals. I feel uncomfortable about it in general but more importantly, I want to be consistent.
If I support the idea of sterilizing dogs or cats, then I also support the sterilization of humans too.
If I am against it for humans, then I would have to be against it for the non-humans too.
I can’t ever have different standards based on species. Most humans do and I find that to be pure speciesism.
Why is speciesism turned into a pejorative? I know it might come as a shock to you but people and dogs are not the same. Biologically they are very different, not just physically but what they eat, how they breed etc. Grapes are great nutrition for people and yet can kill dogs. Is not feeding them grapes speciesist? Or what about cats, they are designed to eat meat. On a vegan diet they will literally die a slow a painful death. So would be be speciesist to feed them meat, or if you do that do you then have to feed a bunny meat all also? Humans have sex for pleasure, dogs don’t. If a dog has sex it’s for the express purpose of reproduction. That is a HUGE biological difference. You can’t unilaterally treat all species the same and if you tried you’d be an idiot because not all species want the same thing. Look at cats, you can’t say that cats want to reproduce, when they do it’s pure biology and nothing deeper than that. If it was deeper they wouldn’t run off their own offspring when they are a few months old. All animals are different and that’s just ok, that’s amazing. What this sounds like is anthropomorphizing being taken to it’s limit. Basically, if you don’t support spaying and neutering then don’t get a pet, then you don’t have to deal with the issue.
Emily, you amaze me. Brilliant, articulate, witty. Thank you for your informative, inspiring, and entertaining videos. On this topic, I’m usually on the pro-choice side, with the exception of abortion being a means of contraception. I think I’m still there since authorities are claiming that the fetus doesn’t suffer. A point in favour of abortion could be compared to the support for animal sterilization – not bringing lives into the world where the quality of life could be a misery given immature, irresponsible, impoverished, single mothers.
But that impoverished irresponsible single mother should have the right to have her baby, and that baby should have the right to not be killed… have you seen a video of an abortion? They fight for their lives while their being cut to pieces. So I have to prove that a cockroach feels pain because it squirms when I spray Raid on it? No, that being is clearly suffering. Don’t assume this well written article is going to fully educate anyone on fetuses being sentient beings. It’s just not complete and it doesn’t show all the proof that’s out there at all
Yes! Well said. Is exterminating PEOPLE ever a good thing…even if they are poor? An individuals financial status should not enter into the argument. As far as I am concerned, this debate is a no-brainer. If we want to be truly vegan, then we need to express a much higher level of abhorrent for abortion than we do for polo mints of Birds Custard. Just saying.
Recent studies show that fetuses feel pain at 8 weeks onwards, especially as the medulla forms.
Can’t wait to bring this video up at the 4th of July family get together! Great video, though, thank you. My general thoughts, if you don’t have a uterus, then feel free to adhere to the highly effective, “keep it in your pants” policy.
Best part: the question you ask. how can you NOT be vegan and be pro life? That’s a humdinger.
EXCELLENT :P
Emily, you are amazing and I love you and your work! I still have to say, you are one of my heros, your diligence, enthusiasm, energy (incredible the time you put in!!!), your determination….. HUGS! I do feel, there are times where abortion is appropriate, sounds terrible, but for one, I can attest to this, having been depressed in my young 20’s, having been with an alcoholic, cocaine addicted boyfriend, I opted for an abortion. I was not of sound mind and body, neither was the guy! Everything was wrong! I feel badly for it, but did not think it would be a good place for that child to be. Who knows how things would have worked out, but at that time, yes, it was the choice I made. As Freya says, abortion should not be used as contraception, but there are situations where it might be better to follow this route. It is an individual situation.I wish I would have had my act together back then, but I did not (due to circumstances.) Thank you again for all that you do, du bist die beste, und wunderbar, und ausgezeichnet!!!
Emily, in your case the old adage, “Too soon old and too late smart” does not apply. You explore ideas I did not come to until six decades into life, and I think I’m a pretty smart cookie. You have clearly taken early to heart the maxim that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
Excellent video and thank you for your well versed, researched and concise talks. I always learn something new from you. I greatly appreciate your insight and knowledge. As a pro-choice vegan, I hope that abortions can be performed early enough so that there are no concerns regarding pain or even nociception. And if the morning after pill was as accessible as condoms, maybe this would alleviate these problems too.
Thank you so much. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts as well!
Thank you so much for your thoughts Melanie. I did mention the health of mother albeit briefly. The challenge with this video (as with them all!) is attempting to condense INCREDIBLY complex topics into simple and short enough videos for people to actually watch. :)
I hate how there are always some aspects that aren’t discussed in the depth they deserve. Very much appreciate your feedback!
I have been a vegan for almost 1 year. I did it for health reasons at first, but am feeling more for the issue related to caring for animals. I am against abortion, but cannot understand how someone can be so vegan they wont eat unfertilized eggs from wild chickens but they can get an abortion after having a good night clubbing with friends. Most vegans I have met are very extreme about the things they wont eat out of not wanting to exploit animals or cause them pain. For example, not eating oysters. I don’t understand a person that wont eat oysters but can personally get an abortion.
However we live a world that has sanctioned abortion and I have no influence over people that get abortions just like I have no influece over people that eat meat. One thing interesting about it though is that I can easily see who is pro abortion and who is pro eating meat and make personal judgements about them and if I want them in my life. Its out in the open and not hidden, hard to know who is pro life and vegan and who isn’t.
I am so disgusted by men and women who calls themselves, “Vegan” and are not for ALL LIFE and Earth. Examine your heart.
Hello Amber.
It sounds as though at least one of my ideas disgusts you.
“At the more misanthropic end of the spectrum, since humanity continues to murder trillions of innocent beings every year, decimate the planet, and grow in population and demand for meat, could it be argued that stemming this proliferation at its root would actually be perfectly inline with vegan principles?”
I sometimes joke that the subject of veganism has so many facets that it is perfectly spherical.
I will add one more here. Sometimes double standards are appropriate. For example, we can impose on family members more than we would on strangers. I submit that it is reasonable to level a stricter standard on our own species. After all, we are the ones with the highfalutin ideas and hubris. We certainly do need to be curtailed. Call that misanthropy if you wish but it’s in everyone else’s interest.
Let’s get controversial. If we really care about life, then we must care primarily about wildlife. If the protection of nature is our priority, at some point we inescapably reach the conclusion that humans and their extensions (domesticated animals) are not to be supported.
Thank you very much for this article. As a vegan currently facing this very serious choice, it gave me a lot to think about. I really appreciate the way you really explored aspects that I have not yet even thought about. Much love ❤️
You are SO very welcome! Thank you for sharing this—that must not be easy to do. You will be in my thoughts. I’m so sorry to hear that your’e in this position, but cannot express how grateful I am to have been of any help. Much love to you.
Interesting article, but you didn’t mention the fact that vegans don’t eat eggs because they are unborn chickens.
Yea, I always wondered about that discrepancy too. If you don’t eat eggs because they are unborn chickens (a decision that is not necessarily correlated with the chick’s ability to feel pain), why can’t the same logic be applied to a human embryo?
Just in case other people find this, I think it’s worth pointing out that this is not the only reason many vegans don’t eat eggs (or not even the main one, I’d argue). Many vegans don’t consume animal products like eggs because their production usually relies on abusively using chickens as egg-producing machines until killed when no longer functional. The same reasoning applies to milk.
Certainly, for me, the egg’s potential for generating a sentient being doesn’t factor into it.
Just FWIW, the following is not true: “The ability of a fetus to feel pain is a primary argument of the pro-life camp.” I’ve been involved with pro-life activism for decades. There are always individuals somewhere who will say one thing or another but pro-life organizations only use the pain argument for late-term abortion (20 weeks and after). Obviously, that isn’t a primary pro-life argument because someone who would permit abortion upon request in most instances (and most are done by 12 weeks) would be considered to be pro-choice even if they thought late-term abortions should be prohibited.
On the other hand, you would expect that we will bring up the pain issue when we are having a discussion with a vegan, but that is because a primary argument for veganism is (or at the very least is widely believed to be) based on sentience. I a way to seek some point of agreement that can be used as a starting point. In my experience vegans and animal rights activists of all stripes tend to do the same thing: try to start by identifying a point of agreement where the person they’re speaking with would concede that doing something to an animal is clearly wrong and then proceed from there.
Pro-life arguments really don’t deal with sentience at all.
The secular arguments (which are all that concern me- just as most people in the west who oppose killing nonhuman animals won’t waste their time making a Jainist argument) deal with something more like sapience than sentience.
It’s just that we’re arguing that a quality need not manifest in order to demand moral consideration. A presumptive quality (a quality that will predictably manifest in the course of normal development) is sufficient. Many people criticize this point, but it’s actually accepted by most as common sense, Otherwise newborn humans would have no greater moral status than mature pigs, and the vast majority of people will reject that idea outright.
The problem with this argument is that not all humans will become sapient and not all humans stay sapient. Some humans are born with certain cognitive disabilities that prevent the development of sapiences. Other humans, later in life, will lose their sapience as a result of some degenerative condition, such as Alzheimer’s. Yet, you don’t suggest discriminating against humans born with severe cognitive disabilities or those with advanced stages of Alzheimer’s simply on account of their lack of sapience. Using sapience as a standard for discrimination between humans and non-humans runs you into extremely dangerous moral territory.
Ugh this is so stupid! You’re saying not to do tests on animals to see if they can feel pain because they’re flinching and crying out so it’s obvious they feel pain… babies in the womb flinch and try to get away too when they’re being poked at!
Hi Kay. In this video and article, I don’t take a stance on abortion one way or another. And I do discuss pain perception being one of the areas of concern within the abortion debate. This post is not pro or anti—it presents the arguments and discussions on both sides (though I’d argue that there are far more than two “sides” to this complex issue).
👍🏼
Emily, I found your article very interesting, refreshing, informative and providing food for thought and enlightenment. I am grateful for the time and energy you obviously put into it.
I am not a vegan but I have extremely dear relatives who are, and with whom I share a supper every week, as well as some some of my own vegan meringues and falafels, and some quite intense discussions! The problem as I see it with veganism is that it presents huge dichotomies that are difficult, if not impossible to resolve; not all that different to faith and a belief in a life or existence after death, something that I do have.
I pray for enlightenment in all such issues but sometimes I think that being too certain creates barriers. I wonder whether we all should be more flexible rather than dogmatic.
Thank you again.
Robert, my sincerest apologies for the extreme delay. I so appreciate your thoughtful comments and I’m very glad that you found this helpful. I always try my best to present things an educational context without allowing any personal bias the cloud the issue. I think it’s so important for everyone to have access to information that is balanced and based on facts with cited resources. Thank you again for reading and watching!
Reduce one’s harms; impose less.
Isn’t that pretty simple? Are impossible, unresolvable dichotomies entailed?
Although I would tend to call myself pro-life, I personally believe both sides of the issue oversimplify the other side. Conversations need to be opened up that really tackle some of the more complicated scenarios on both sides. This is one of the best articles I’ve read on the subject and does just that. Thank you!
Katherine, apologies for the delay in replying. I am so very glad that you found this article balanced and helpful. I agree with you that besides turned over simplify. I find that happens with most debates, especially the more controversial they are :) thank you so much for taking the time to comment!
Hi Emily, I just stumbled upon this article and video while on my journey to going full Vegan. Thank you for the hard work, time invested and strength of character required to say what you say and ask the questions that you do.
For me it comes down to the question of weather I can accept that violence is the price for my comfort, pleasure or convenience. For me the answer is no.
Carlo, thank you so much for your comment. I am so glad to hear that this was an effective video and essay in your eyes. I do really try hard, especially on the more “controversial” topics to present things in a balanced an educational way so that people on all sides have the facts and can Study them and draw their own conclusions rather than have an opinion color the information. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!
Carlo, your last sentence is profound and articulated perfectly. Well done.
One reading of the purportedly perfect articulation is “whether Carlo can live with a tiny, prophylactic act.” Can he responsibly do the briefly unpleasant or would he prefer to fail to act? So fortunate is he to have lucked out with a good childhood in this human world of endless, mostly preventable abuses.
Emily, I have to admit to not being a vegan (probably one of those who need to look into it more but haven’t yet had the courage to do so in case it causes me to need to change!!) The issue of veganism and abortion was one that I was curious about, googled, and came across your article. It was such a relief to read something on the internet about a contentious issue that tried to be fair to both sides of the argument – so thank you; it was really helpful.
Stan, I’m SO glad to hear you found my approach to be fair and balanced to both sides. I really strive to present topics in an educational, unbiased manner—especially when it comes to the more divisive issues. I also take great pains to be rigorous in my research—even if a “fact” supports my personal feelings about something, I do my best to take nothing as certain until I’ve vetted it as thoroughly as possible. Effective education is hindered by spin, inaccuracies, exaggerations, etc.
Anyways, before I get on a nerdy role, I want to thank you for taking the time to share this feedback with me—AND for your opening comment as well. The fact that you recognize your resistance is coming from fear of change is HUGE! While fear of change is (I think) one of the most common reasons we humans balk at things, our recognition of it as such is rather rare. Your awareness gives me high hopes for your journey. Change is scary. The info is here for you and isn’t going anywhere. Whether you dip in a toe or take a dive. :) All the best to you, and thanks again!
Stan, I like your forthrightness: “one of those who need to look into it more but haven’t yet had the courage to do so.”
There is also something to be said about the different reasons why one becomes a vegan. Some become vegan because of a belief in the absolute sanctity of each individual life. These vegans take a rights-based approach, regarding each individual organism as possessing a set of natural and inviolable rights.
But there are other moral paradigms for veganism. Some of us become vegans for ecological reasons. Our primary view of the world is not one of individual rights, but of ecological flourishing. We’re vegan because it’s the best thing for the planet. But for this same reason, we differ from rights-based vegans on certain tricky issues, like invasive species.
From an ecological perspective, the primary moral argument in favour of pro-choice policies isn’t that fetuses can’t experience suffering (although that happens to be a bonus), but rather that family planning policies and services — from everything, including sex education, contraception, and abortion — contribute not just to human flourishing but to ecological flourishing.
The extremely narrow pro-life obsession with individual lives, even before those lives become lives in any meaningful sense, leads to a near-total blindness with respect to the larger social and ecological context.
Great information – I am not a vegan but was curious about the thoughts of vegans on abortion.
You did a great job explaining the issues (although no easy answers)
In today’s world, I have seen many vegan people. however, they are against killing. If this is true then they must agree that abortion is also murder. I’ve never supported this issue. Thank you for highlighting these issues.
Kimberly, what if someone killed you, just you, to save 100,000 others? Who matters?
Vegans can’t be pro life without contradicting themselves. Plants feed, breathe, move, reproduce, excrete, and respond to external stimuli such as the varying sunlight during daytime and changes in temperature. All these characteristics are exhibited by living things, meaning that plants, too, are alive.
Vegans say Unlike animals, plants lack the ability or potential to experience pain or have sentient thoughts, so there isn’t an ethical issue with eating them. A live plant is not conscious and cannot feel pain. (Which is debatable).
So technically it would be fine to end a pregnancy before the fetus has the ability to experience pain or have sentient thoughts.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a fetus is not capable of experiencing pain until 28 to 30 weeks after conception, when the nerves that carry painful stimuli to the brain have developed.