A timeline and explainer for Prop 12, Massachusetts Question 3 and the fight over state farm animal protection laws
WASHINGTON (June 2, 2026)—As the United States Congress continues debate around the Farm Bill, a multi-year agricultural legislative package, Humane World for Animals and Humane World Action Fund, formerly called Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund, offer the following background on farm animal protection laws and why the Save Our Bacon Act is bad news.
"The House Farm Bill chose corporate interests over the will of voters, but three House Republicans broke ranks, and we will build on that resistance in the Senate. For more than a decade, we have fought state by state to end the cruel confinement of farm animals, and we successfully defended California's landmark Proposition 12 all the way to the Supreme Court. We are not going to let Congress undo that progress," said Sara Amundson, president of Humane World Action Fund.
Key facts about Prop 12 and other state farm animal welfare laws
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California’s Proposition 12, or Prop 12, is a state ballot initiative that was approved by 63% of voters in 2018. It prohibits the in-state production and sale of food products from mother pigs, chickens used for eggs and calves raised for veal if they are derived from animals locked in cruel and extreme confinement. Sales of products from animals not derived from these cruel conditions are not impacted by Prop 12.
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Massachusetts’s Question 3, is a 2016 ballot measure that voters approved of by a 78% majority. It also prohibits the in-state production and sale of food products from egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and calves raised for veal in cruel confinement.
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Fifteen states have passed laws addressing the cruel confinement of pigs, chickens and/or calves in crates and cages so small they can barely move. Voters of all political stripes want animals to be treated humanely, and they support common sense laws that align food production with their values.
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80% of American voters, including nearly equal numbers of Democrats, Independents and Republicans, support enactment in their own states of a law like Prop 12 to protect farm animals and consumers.
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Federal courts have routinely upheld farm animal confinement and sales laws like Prop 12 and Question 3 against challenges from factory farming interests and their allies, and Humane World for Animals has defended these laws at every turn, most often by leading a coalition of animal welfare groups as parties in the litigation.
What’s happening in Congress now
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Even after the Supreme Court upheld Prop 12 in 2023, a section of the pork industry has redoubled its efforts pushing Congress to gut it and other state laws like it.
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In 2025, the House and Senate introduced separate bills that would roll back not only Prop 12 and Question 3, but also hundreds of other state laws governing agricultural products, food safety, disease prevention and public health.
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After months of speculation, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson introduced a Farm Bill in February 2026 that was a cornucopia of handouts to Big Agriculture, including a provision to nullify Prop 12 (Sec. 12006), mirroring the deceptively named “Save Our Bacon Act.”
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While the Farm Bill package had many controversial poison pills attacking animals, communities and the environment, the House passed it largely on party lines in April 2026.
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Attention now turns to the U.S. Senate and whether Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman will avoid including language on Prop 12 and other matters in his chamber’s version of the Farm Bill, as he has publicly stated.
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Legislation to block Prop 12 and related laws remains highly controversial. It’s opposed by a diverse coalition of more than 6,600 groups and individuals, including farmers, veterinarians, elected officials and national organizations.
Timeline: Farm Bill legislation, California Prop 12 and Massachusetts Question 3
2008 – First major congressional preemption fight
Congress considered a measure that would have stripped states of the power to set their own farm animal protection laws, but it was removed from the final Farm Bill after bipartisan opposition.
2008 to 2010 – California sets the standard
California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 2, requiring that pregnant pigs, veal calves and egg-laying hens raised in the state have enough room to move freely. Two years later in 2010, the state legislature passed AB 1437 to extend those requirements to all eggs sold in the state, no matter where the hens were raised. Multiple legal challenges to these laws were later soundly defeated.
2014 – Rep. Steve King Farm Bill amendment defeated
Iowa congressman Steve King inserted language into the House Farm Bill looking to override state agricultural laws. The provision passed the House but was removed during Senate/House negotiations after bipartisan opposition.
2016 – Massachusetts voters approve Question 3
Massachusetts overwhelmingly adopted a farm animal confinement law that ensures calves raised for veal, breeding pigs and egg-laying hens in Massachusetts have enough room to turn around and extend their limbs. It requires that meat and eggs sold in the state also meet this commonsense animal welfare and food safety standard.
2018 – King amendment defeated again
In a replay from four years prior, the King amendment was defeated again in final negotiations to pass a Farm Bill in Congress.
2018 – California voters say yes to Prop 12
California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 12, building on the previous Proposition 2 and establishing sales requirements for pork, veal and eggs sold in the state.
2019 to 2025 – Pork industry lawsuits present challenges to state farm welfare laws
Trade groups including the National Pork Producers Council, North American Meat Institute and Triumph Foods filed multiple legal challenges against Prop 12 and Question 3. Federal courts have repeatedly upheld both laws.
May 2023 – Supreme Court upholds Prop 12
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected the pork industry’s primary constitutional challenge (and rejected its secondary challenge 5-4), marking a major legal victory for state authority and agricultural sales standards.
June 2023 – EATS Act introduced
Iowa Representative Ashley Hinson and Kansas Senator Roger Marshall introduced the Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression (EATS) Act, a federal proposal that could override a wide range of state agricultural and animal welfare standards.
May 2024 – House Farm Bill includes Prop 12 rollback language
House Republicans advanced language targeting California’s Prop 12 and other state agricultural standards, prompting opposition from pork producers, food companies, veterinarians, animal advocates and bipartisan lawmakers. The proposal was stalled as Congress did not advance a Farm Bill that year.
April 2025 – Food Security and Farm Protection Act introduced
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst introduced new legislation (S. 1326) that mirrors the EATS Act text, just with a new name, and could nullify more than 1,000 state laws concerning animal welfare, public health and other agricultural concerns.
June 2025 – Supreme Court declines new Prop 12 challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear another challenge to Prop 12 brought by the Iowa Pork Producers Association.
July 2025 – Congress passes “One Big Beautiful Bill” tax and spending law
Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), which included many agricultural priorities that traditionally move through a Farm Bill.
July 2025 – Congressional debate and legal challenge escalate
The Department of Justice sued California over Prop 12’s cage-free egg provision, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing examining the law’s implications, and Rep. Hinson introduced the misleadingly named “Save Our Bacon Act.”
October 2025 – Circuit court ruling affirms Massachusetts Question 3
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld Massachusetts Question 3 and affirmed an earlier decision by a U.S. District Court in the case Triumph Foods v. Campbell. The court rejected every one of the pork producers’ and processors’ trough of arguments, confirming that Question 3 is constitutional and not preempted by federal law.
April 2026 – Latest Farm Bill passes U.S. House
In a vote largely on partisan lines, the U.S. House of Representatives overlooked serious flaws in the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567) and voted 224 to 200 to pass legislation full of harmful provisions affecting animals, communities, families and the environment. The vote followed an accelerated bill introduction and markup process in the House.
More resources for media and journalists
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Photos and videos of pigs in extreme confinement (media library)
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Responses to claims made by those seeking to block Prop 12 (myths/facts)
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List of farm animal protection laws across 15 states (pdf)
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Harvard Law School Animal Law & Policy Program legislative analysis of the Save Our Bacon Act (pdf)
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Georgetown Environmental Law Review of the Save Our Bacon Act (web)
