You may or may not have heard this, but PETA is holding a sweepstakes for a free vasectomy. The only problem is.... they are doing it in honor of Infertility Awareness Week. Which seems completely insensitive (but its PETA, so are we genuinely shocked?) You will notice that my PETA link says, "During National Infertility Awareness Week." This was changed after an uprising from the infertility community and several organizations. I still don't agree with the change, but I was deeply offended by their "retraction" and "apology." Here is their response:
“It happened to be National Infertility Awareness Week, which we saw as the perfect opportunity to turn the conversation toward the problem of overpopulation, specifically dog and cat overpopulation, but also toward the problem of human overpopulation, which is depleting resources, exacerbating starvation in poorer countries, accelerating global climate change and desertification, and letting homeless kids go wanting. Yes, there is a strong biological urge to have children, but should we indulge it any more than we should keep churning out puppies and kittens in a world with finite resources and, in their case, a finite number of homes? In other words, all adults, whether or not they can biologically conceive, should question whether it’s ethical to produce more children and ask themselves if they might instead seek a different option for channeling their affection when so many wonderful orphaned and displaced children, including ones with disabilities who desperately need love and a good home, are available for adoption. Human and animal overpopulation both cause enormous suffering: A world population rapidly approaching 7 billion people means polluted air and water and vanishing habitat for wild animals, and when we buy animals and neglect to spay and neuter them, about 8 million dogs and cats get turned over to animal shelters every year, half of whom are euthanized for lack of a good home.”Basically, this is the "If you are infertile, you should just adopt because you don't have a right to biological children, you selfish person who wants to overpopulate the Earth" or "adoption is just the same as getting pregnant and having your own kid" insult that I have heard time and time again. (Along with several other annoying things)
Don't get me wrong. I agree that people should spay and neuter their pets because it means less kitties and puppies being euthanized. I do not agree with PETA's use of the infertility population to prove the point.
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