Right to Life in Abortion and Ethics:
– Term ‘right to life’ in the abortion debate
– Pope Pius XII’s stance on the right to life in 1951
– National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ involvement in abortion reform
– Establishment of the National Right to Life Committee in 1967
– NRLC’s move towards independence from the Roman Catholic Church
– Utilitarian ethicists’ argument on the right to life
– Peter Singer’s perspective on the right to life
– Bioethicists’ critique of Singer’s epistemology
– Justification of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia in certain circumstances
Capital Punishment and Human Rights:
– Opposition view on capital punishment as a violation of the right to life
– Supporters’ argument that the death penalty is not against the right to life
– Human rights activists’ stance on the death penalty
– United Nations General Assembly’s resolutions on a global moratorium on executions
– Amnesty International’s perspective on capital punishment
Police Use of Deadly Force and Accountability:
– International Human Rights Standards for Law Enforcement
– Guidelines for state actors on the use of lethal force
– Proportionate use of force and circumstances for the use of firearms
– Accountability measures for law enforcement agencies
– Discrepancies in police killings across different states
– Investigations and reports required after the use of lethal force by law enforcement
Animal Rights, Ethics, and Euthanasia:
– Peter Singer’s advocacy against killing animals for meat consumption
– Argument from marginal cases suggesting animals should have similar moral status to certain human groups
– Ethics of eating meat and sentiocentrism
– Debate on animal rights
– Legalities and controversies surrounding euthanasia
– European Convention on Human Rights discussing the right to die
Legal Precedents and Juridical Statements:
– Various historical documents and conventions declaring the right to life
– International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protecting the right to life
– American Convention on Human Rights emphasizing respect for life
– Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrining the right to life
– Convention on the Rights of the Child addressing fundamental rights
– Poljica Statute, United States Declaration of Independence, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other legal frameworks safeguarding the right to life
The right to life is the belief that a human or other animal has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including capital punishment, with some people seeing it as immoral; abortion, with some seeing the fetus as a human being in an early state of development whose life should not be ended; euthanasia, where the decision to end one's life outside of natural means is seen as incorrect; meat production and consumption, where the breeding and killing of animals for their meat is seen by some people as an infringement on their rights; and in killings by law enforcement, which is seen by some as an infringement of a person's right to live. Various individuals may disagree in which of these areas the principle of a right to life might apply.
English
Noun
right to life
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see right, life.
- (public policy, law, ethics) The right of a human being to the continuation of his or her life.
- (US, public policy, law, ethics) The moral or legal entitlement of an unborn child to be born, and not have its birth prevented through an abortion or other medical procedure.
