When Human Rights Extend to Nonhumans

[joshwriting]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/weekinreview/13mcneil.html

Spain is considering a law to grant certain rights to great apes. It cleared the Environment Committee and is being considered in their Parliament:

the vote of the environment committee of the Spanish Parliament last month to grant limited rights to our closest biological relatives, the great apes — chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans.

(snip)

If the bill passes — the news agency Reuters predicts it will — it would become illegal in Spain to kill apes except in self-defense. Torture, including in medical experiments, and arbitrary imprisonment, including for circuses or films, would be forbidden.

The 300 apes in Spanish zoos would not be freed, but better conditions would be mandated.

While I agree with Human Rights Watch that human rights are scarcely protected, themselves, I think this is still an important step.

Comments

[almandite.livejournal.com]

What confuses me on this whole issue is that, while I find it impossible to deny that we are just a third species of Chimpanzee, the scientific and medical benefits to great ape testing weigh very heavily in my mind. I don't want to have to choose between the two. Especially because I think I might pick the testing procedures, however inhumane.