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Massachusetts animal rights initiative receives go-ahead

An animal rights/livestock housing ballot initiative in Massachusetts has been given the go-ahead by that state’s Supreme Court.

The ruling clears the way for the initiative to appear on the November ballot in Massachusetts.

The initiative, which is backed by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), would ban the use of gestation pens for pregnant sows, pens for veal calves and battery cages for laying hens. But this initiative goes a step further—it would also prohibit the sale in the state of meat and eggs from confined animals.

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) opposes the Massachusetts initiative. NPPC says that, by banning interstate sales of meat and eggs from confined animals, the initiative likely would drive up the price of those products and reduce their consumption—which is the real goal of HSUS, according to NPPC.

NPPC says such a ban for reasons other than public health and safety also would seem to violate the Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which gives Congress the power to regulate commerce among states.