Question Eggs!

[Jeffrick782]

THIS IS A GENUINE QUESTION I SWEAR!
Only for my vegans that believe in abortions, why can’t you eat the eggs of a chicken. Let me preface this. If you were to own and take good care of your chickens (Like most organic home owners do) what is the problem with eating the eggs. If you know animals chickens lay eggs regardless of it being fertilized or not so they aren’t expecting a baby from it. So what would the problem be? Again this is only for the vegans that believe in abortions.

 

[Brian W]

THIS IS A GENUINE QUESTION I SWEAR!
Only for my vegans that believe in abortions, why can’t you eat the eggs of a chicken. Let me preface this. If you were to own and take good care of your chickens (Like most organic home owners do) what is the problem with eating the eggs. If you know animals chickens lay eggs regardless of it being fertilized or not so they aren’t expecting a baby from it. So what would the problem be? Again this is only for the vegans that believe in abortions.

It's not the eggs themselves but the breeding of laying hens. Approx. 50% hatch into males and are unprofitable because they can't lay eggs so they are minced up and used in pet food. I saw a video of this where a bunch of chicks were on a conveyor belt, fully alive and unanaesthetized, heading towards a mincing machine. I don't want to fund such. BTW - I don't believe in abortions, but you will get the same response from all vegans about eggs.

 

[Emma JC]

yes, @Brian W has laid out part of the issue and the other part is that most fowl, in the wild, do not lay eggs every day as ... here is a quote

"In the wild, hens only lay eggs during breeding season, totaling just 10-15 eggs per year. Due to severe human intervention, non-wild hens lay 250-300 eggs per year, which takes a never-ending toll on their bodies. Naturally, chickens can live 10-15 years."
from Egg Facts — One Living Sanctuary
Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Lou]

THIS IS A GENUINE QUESTION I SWEAR!
Only for my vegans that believe in abortions, why can’t you eat the eggs of a chicken.

this is a pretty good question. However....

I'm not sure but in debate class I think this might be an example of a false equivalency.

Is it ethical for vegans to eat eggs? This is all by itself a controversial topic. You can just search our forum and find at least 4 threads discussing this - including the whole backyard chickens thing. And a google search will find at least a thousand pages that discuss this topic.

Is it ethical for a woman to get an abortion or is it hypocritical for a vegan to get an abortion? Another controversial topic.

the thing is that you have somehow conflated these two issues which in my mind is not only Not necessary but also may be that false equivalency thing.

In my mind these are two separate issues and should not be discussed together.

Personally, I don't think abortions are ethical. However, I am a big proponent of women's rights and would never propose that it is anyones business but the woman's right to choose. Also ethics aside, there are real practical things to be considered. But when push comes to shove each woman should be allowed to make that decision for herself.

Eggs can be a gray area. @Emma JC's points are just part of it.

people have come up with all kinds of scenarios to justify eating eggs. And I imagine that there may be some scenarios where a vegan could eat eggs in an ethical way. But still it seems to me to be a gray area and an ethical poached egg seems unlikely and ... well there is nothing essential or necessary in an egg so it's best to just leave the chickens alone.

If you still want to put chickens and women in the same box, then maybe you can think of the argument in terms of Rights. Women's Rights and Animal Rights. Women have the right to control their own bodies. And chickens have the right to be just left alone.

Sharp minds may have noticed that I have not mentioned the rights of embryos. Even if we decide that those rights exist - I don't believe they are more important than women's rights. and vegans have enough reasons not to eat eggs without even considering the unborn chicken's rights.

 

[silva]

The main idea behind being vegan is consent. Taking items from someone who you know would never miss them is unethical.
The hens that lay eggs have intentionally been bred to overproduce egg production.

Egg Farms: How Are Laying Hens Raised on Egg Farms? | New Roots Institute

Often thought to be free from cruelty, farming chickens for eggs causes immense suffering.

www.newrootsinstitute.org

As far as people who have chickens and care for them for their eggs, that's for them to sort out. Just as someone who steals food if their family is starving is not the same as someone who steals just to steal.

What the heck does chicken eggs have to do with abortions?

 

[Lou]

The main idea behind being vegan is consent. Taking items from someone who you know would never miss them is unethical.
The hens that lay eggs have intentionally been bred to overproduce egg production.

Egg Farms: How Are Laying Hens Raised on Egg Farms? | New Roots Institute

Often thought to be free from cruelty, farming chickens for eggs causes immense suffering.

www.newrootsinstitute.org

As far as people who have chickens and care for them for their eggs, that's for them to sort out. Just as someone who steals food if their family is starving is not the same as someone who steals just to steal.

What the heck does chicken eggs have to do with abortions?

Well, I've already said that I don't think we shouldn't consider these issue together. but I do see how someone could make the connection.

However unless your backyard chicken rancher has roosters - the eggs they sell or harvest for themselves would not be fertilized .
the fetuses that are in question here when we discuss abortion are maybe like the eggs that are fertilized to make baby chickens.

 

[silva]

Well, I've already said that I don't think we shouldn't consider these issue together. but I do see how someone could make the connection.

However unless your backyard chicken rancher has roosters - the eggs they sell or harvest for themselves would not be fertilized .
the fetuses that are in question here when we discuss abortion are maybe like the eggs that are fertilized to make baby chickens.

They did address that-

THIS IS A GENUINE QUESTION I SWEAR!
Only for my vegans that believe in abortions, why can’t you eat the eggs of a chicken. Let me preface this. If you were to own and take good care of your chickens (Like most organic home owners do) what is the problem with eating the eggs. If you know animals chickens lay eggs regardless of it being fertilized or not so they aren’t expecting a baby from it. So what would the problem be? Again this is only for the vegans that believe in abortions.

...and I was asking our guest