Right to life

The right to life is a moral principle based on the belief that a human being has the right to live and, in particular, should not to be killed by another human being. The concept of a right to life is central to debates on the issues of capital punishment, war, abortion, euthanasia, and justifiable homicide.

Capital punishment 1
Euthanasia debate 2
Abortion debate framing 3
Ethics and right to life 4
Juridical rhetoric 5
See also 6
References 7
External links 8

Capital punishment

Abolitionists believe capital punishment is a violation of the right to life. Abolitionists believe that capital punishment is the worst violation of human rights, because the right to life is the most important, and capital punishment violates it without necessity and inflicts to the condemned a psychological torture.

Euthanasia debate

The entitlement of a person to make the decision to end their own life through euthanasia is commonly called a right to choose,^[1] while people who oppose the legalization of euthanasia are commonly referred to as the right-to-lifers.^[2]

Abortion debate framing

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law guidebook (2000) listing of abortion specifies the publication use of "anti-abortion" instead of "pro-life" and "abortion rights" instead of "pro-abortion" or "pro-choice", and advises avoiding the use of "abortionist" which "connotes a person who performs clandestine abortions", in favor of using a term such as "abortion doctor" or "abortion practitioner".^[3]

Pope Pius XII seated in the Sedia Gestatoria in 1939.

The term "right to life" is a rhetorical device used in the abortion debate by those who wish to outlaw the intentional termination of a pregnancy^[4] and in the context of pregnancy, the term right to life was advanced by Pope Pius XII during a 1951 papal encyclical:

Every human being, even the child in the womb, has the right to life directly from God and not from his parents, not from any society or human authority. Therefore, there is no man, no society, no human authority, no science, no “indication” at all whether it be medical, eugenic, social, economic, or moral that may offer or give a valid judicial title for a direct deliberate disposal of an innocent human life… --- Pope Pius XII, Address to Midwives on the Nature of Their Profession Papal Encyclical, October 29, 1951.^[5]

In 1966 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) asked Fr. James T. McHugh to begin observing trends in abortion reform within the United States.^[6] The National Right to Life Committee was funded in 1967 as the Right to Life League to coordinate its state campaigns under the auspices of the Fr. James T. McHugh and his executive assistant, Michael Taylor, proposed a different plan, facilitating the NRLC move toward its independence from the Roman Catholic Church.

The human blastocyst has a diameter of about 0.1-0.2 mm and comprises 200-300 cells following rapid cell division.

Anti-abortion advocates argue that prenatal humans have the same fundamental "right to life" from the moment of conception that humans have after their birth. Although pro-life advocates accept that women have a right to bodily autonomy, they deny that right entitles the women to violate the prenatal "right to life", by having it killed. Generally speaking, those identifying themselves as "right to life" believe abortion is morally unacceptable.

The term "right to choose" is a rhetorical device used in the abortion debate by abortion-rights proponents. Many abortion rights advocates argue that prenatal humans are or are not human persons and do not have the same fundamental "right to life" as a mature human. Another abortion rights argument posits that it is irrelevant whether prenatal humans do or do not have the same fundamental "right to life" as a mature human because a woman's right to Bodily integrity overrides any potential rights that the fetus may or may not have. Advocates of the "right to choose" may take either or both positions.

Generally speaking, those identifying themselves as "pro-choice" are advocates for legal elective abortion. At the same time, some advocates for legalized abortion state that they simply do not know for sure where in pregnancy life begins; then-Senator Barack Obama took this view in the 2008 election.^[9] Some biologists however, have determined that the properties of life emerge at the cellular level.^[10] Other advocates have stated that they hold personal views against abortion but do not support putting those beliefs into law; then-Senator Joe Biden took this view in the 2008 election.^[11]

Ethics and right to life

Some utilitarian ethicists argue that the "right to life", where it exists, depends on conditions other than membership of the human species. The philosopher Peter Singer is a notable proponent of this argument. For Singer, the right to life is grounded in the ability to plan and anticipate one's future. This extends the concept to non-human animals, such as other apes, but since the unborn, infants and severely disabled people lack this, he states that abortion, painless infanticide and euthanasia can be "justified" (but are not obligatory) in certain special circumstances, for instance in the case of a disabled infant whose life would be one of suffering, or if its parents didn't wish to raise it and no one desired to adopt it.^[12]

Juridical rhetoric

In 1444, the Poljica Statute declared right to live "-for nothing existed since ever".^[13]
In 1776, the United States Declaration of Independence declared that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".
In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly declared in article three:

“

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

”

In 1950, the European Convention on Human Rights was adopted by the Council of Europe, declaring a protected human right to life in Article 2. There are exceptions for lawful executions and self-defense, arresting a fleeing suspect, and suppressing riots and insurrections. Since then Protocol 6 of the Convention has called for nations to outlaw capital punishment except in time of war or national emergency, and at present this pertains in all countries of the Council. Protocol 13 provides for the total abolition of capital punishment, and has been implemented in most member countries of the Council.
In 1966, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

“

Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.

”

— Article 6.1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

In 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrined that

“

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

”

— Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

In 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany holds the principle of human dignity paramount, even above the right to life.
The Catholic Church has issued a Charter of the Rights of the Family^[14] in which it states that the right to life is directly implied by human dignity.
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, 1950, guarantees the right to life to all persons within the territory of India and states: "No person shall be deprived of his right to life and personal liberty except according to procedure established by law." Article 21, though couched in negative language, confers on every person the fundamental right to life and personal liberty which has become an inexhaustible source of many other rights.^[15]

References

^ 1999, Jennifer M. Scherer, Rita James Simon, Euthanasia and the Right to Die: A Comparative View, Page 27
^ 1998, Roswitha Fischer, Lexical Change in Present-day English, page 126
^ "Abortion", The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. Norm Goldstein, editor. Perseus Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7382-0308-4.
^ Solomon, Martha. "The Rhetoric of Right to Life: Beyond the Court's Decision" Paper presented at the Southern Speech Communication Association (Atlanta, Georgia, April 4–7, 1978)
^ "Address to Midwives on the Nature of Their Profession", 29 October 1951. Pope Pius XII.
^ http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=GPS&userGroupName=tel_s_tsla&tabID=T002&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=10&contentSet=GALE%7CA262387307&&docId=GALE|A262387307&docType=GALE&role=ITOF&docLevel=FULLTEXT "The national right to life committee: its founding, its history, and the emergence of the pro-life movement prior to Roe v. Wade". Robert N. Karrier. The Catholic Historical Review. 97.3 (July 2011): p527. From General OneFile.
^ http://www.christianlifeandliberty.net/RTL.bmp K.M. Cassidy. "Right to Life." In Dictionary of Christianity in America, Coordinating Editor, Daniel G. Reid. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1990. pp. 1017,1018.
^ "God's Own Party The Making of the Religious Right", pp. 113-116. ISBN 978-0-19-534084-6. Daniel K. Williams. Oxford University Press. 2010.
^
^ Solomon, Eldra P.; Berg, Linda R.; Martin, Diana W. (2002), Biology (6th ed.), Brooks/Cole, ISBN 0-534-39175-3, LCCN 2001095366
^
^ Singer, Peter. Practical ethics Cambridge University Press (1993), 2nd revised ed., ISBN 0-521-43971-X
^
^ The Family and Human RightsPontifical Council for the Family. Vatican website. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
^ Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India AIR 1978 SC 597

External links

Right to Life on the Children's Rights Portal
. Pius XII. October 29, 1951.Address to Midwives on the Nature of Their Profession

Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

General principles

Article 1: Freedom, Egalitarianism, Dignity and Brotherhood Article 2: Universality of rights

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Articles 1 and 2: Right to freedom from discrimination
Article 3: Right to life, liberty and security of person
Article 4: Freedom from slavery
Article 5: Freedom from torture or cruel and unusual punishment
Article 6: Right to personhood
Article 7: Equality before the law
Article 8: Right to effective remedy from the law
Article 9: Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention or exile
Article 10: Right to a fair trial
Article 11.1: Presumption of innocence
Article 11.2: Prohibition of retrospective law
Article 12: Right to privacy
Article 13.1: Freedom of movement
Article 13.2: Right of return
Article 14: Right of asylum
Article 15: Right to a nationality
Article 16: Right to marriage and family life
Article 17: Right to property
Article 18: Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
Article 19: Freedom of opinion and expression and information
Article 20.1: Freedom of assembly
Article 20.2: Freedom of association
Article 21.1: Right to participation in government
Article 21.2: Right of equal access to public office
Article 21.3: Right to universal suffrage

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Article 22: Right to social security
Article 23.1: Right to work
Article 23.2: Right to equal pay for equal work
Article 23.3: Right to just remuneration
Article 23.4: Right to join a trade union
Article 24: Right to rest and leisure
Article 25.1: Right to an adequate standard of living
Article 25.2: Right to special care and assistance for mothers and children
Article 26.1: Right to education
Article 26.2: Human rights education
Article 26.3: Right to choice of education
Article 27: Right to science and culture

Context, limitations and duties

Article 28: Social order Article 29.1: Social responsibility Article 29.2: Limitations of human rights Article 29.3: The supremacy of the purposes and principles of the United Nations

Article 30:	Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Substantive human rights

Note: What is considered a human right is controversial and not all the topics listed are universally accepted as human rights.

Civil and political	Equality before the law Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention Freedom of assembly Freedom of association Freedom from cruel and unusual punishment Freedom from discrimination Freedom from exile Freedom of information Freedom of movement Freedom of religion Freedom from slavery Freedom of speech Freedom of thought Freedom from torture Legal aid Liberty LGBT rights Nationality Personhood Presumption of innocence Right of asylum Right to die Right to a fair trial Right to family life Right to keep and bear arms Right to life Right to petition Right to privacy Right to protest Right to refuse medical treatment Right of self-defense Security of person Universal suffrage

Economic, social and cultural	Digital rights Equal pay for equal work Fair remuneration Labor rights Right to an adequate standard of living Right to clothing Right to development Right to education Right to food Right to health Right to housing Right to Internet access Right to property Right to public participation Right of reply Right of return Right to science and culture Right to social security Right to water Right to work Trade union membership

Sexual and reproductive	Abortion Family planning Freedom from involuntary female genital mutilation Intersex human rights LGBT rights Reproductive health Right to sexuality

Violations	Corporal punishment

War and conflict	Civilian Combatant Freedom from genocide Prisoner of war War rape

Right to life

Right to life

Contents

Capital punishment

Euthanasia debate

Abortion debate framing

Ethics and right to life

Juridical rhetoric

See also

References

External links

Categories

Human rights

Encyclopedia Article

Abortion

Encyclopedia Article

Capital punishment

Encyclopedia Article

Privacy

Encyclopedia Article

Prenatal development

Encyclopedia Article

Suggestions

Abortion

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Euthanasia in Mexico

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Capital punishment

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Euthanasia

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Right to property

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