Congress Tries to Kill Prop 12—Again
A new bill backed by factory farm lobbyists threatens to overturn California’s landmark animal cruelty law and undermine state rights.
A group of senators at the behest of the pork industrial agricultural lobbyists have introduced a bill in an attempt to gut California’s animal protection laws once again. The Food Security and Farm Protection Act is an attempt to undo California’s Proposition 12, which prevents the sale of pork, veal, and eggs from animals confined in extremely small spaces. California legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, must oppose this dangerous bill, which threatens to wipe out hundreds of state animal, environmental, and public health protection laws and punish local complaint farmers.
‘Prop 12’, an animal welfare citizen-led ballot initiative, set minimum space requirements for pregnant pigs, calves, and egg-laying hens. On factory farms, pregnant pigs spend their entire 16-week pregnancy in gestation crates – metal enclosures with concrete floors, only slightly larger than the animals themselves, and restrict movement so severely that they can’t even turn around. Similarly, male calves discarded from the dairy industry are kept in veal crates, where their movement is restricted for months to minimize muscle growth in order to produce tender meat. Egg-laying hens are often confined in battery cages, small wire enclosures that prevent them from spreading their wings or engaging in natural behaviors like nesting and perching. Californians overwhelmingly rejected such extreme cruelty by passing Prop 12 with nearly a 2-to-1 margin in 2018.
Predictably, Prop 12 faced legal opposition from the start, especially from the pork industry, which claimed it disrupted interstate commerce and unfairly impacted out-of-state farmers. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which, in May 2023, upheld Proposition 12 — affirming California’s right to pass laws aligned with the values of its people, declaring “while the Constitution addresses many weighty issues, the type of pork chops California merchants may sell is not on that list.”
The attempts to kill Prop 12 did not end there. Before the introduction of the Food Security and Farm Protection Act this year, an identical measure — the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act — failed in 2023 due to opposition from both Democrats and some Republicans. Lawmakers from both parties united around the principle of protecting states' rights from federal overreach.
A number of farmers have already converted to comply with the new law; however, major industrial agricultural companies, driven by profit, continue fighting to overturn Prop 12. These corporations rely on a business model that externalizes costs onto animals, workers, and the environment. Animals are taken from their mothers at birth, subjected to painful mutilations to make them easier to control, given growth hormones and antibiotics, confined in cramped, unnatural spaces, and slaughtered just months into their lives. Factory farm workers, also exploited, endure long hours in toxic environments—both physically and emotionally—and many suffer from PTSD as a result of constant exposure to animal suffering and violence. Meanwhile, these companies pollute the air and water, devastate local ecosystems through massive greenhouse gas emissions and waste runoff.
Unfortunately, the government encourages this harmful system through direct and indirect subsidies, as well as bailouts for natural disasters and industry-driven crises, such as avian flu. Prop 12 represents a small but meaningful step toward a more just and sustainable food system. In contrast, the Food Security and Farm Protection Act is a giant step backward—one that could have lasting negative consequences. California’s federal lawmakers must take a strong, united stand against this dangerous bill.
Take Action: Californians overwhelmingly voted to reject cruelty—and we must protect that decision.
📣 Tell your federal representatives to oppose the Food Security and Farm Protection Act:
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