Dear Mr. Friedman,

In your October 27, 2012 Op-Ed “Why I Am Pro-Life,” you present a well-reasoned argument why people can’t call themselves pro-life and oppose common-sense gun control or support shutting down the Environmental Protection Agency or Head Start. Your contention that “pro-life” must include respect for how “life is lived, enhanced and protected — not only at the moment of conception but afterward, in the course of that life” contains merit.

You make a compelling case for redefining “pro-life” with one glaring omission — respect for the lives of animals. How can anyone be called pro-life if they support animal agriculture and eat confined, abused, and slaughtered animals when they don’t need to eat them to survive? How can anyone be called pro-life when they support an animal farming industry that wreaks havoc on our environment and causes millions of people to die from diseases? Please consider expanding your definition of pro-life to include the most defenseless among us.

On behalf of the animals,

Andrew Kirschner