Right to life, in its broadest sense, refers to holding human life as a paramount value. The right to life is central to debates on the issues of abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, war.

Juridical views

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The United States Declaration of Independence calls life one of the "unalienable rights," meaning that a person's sense of self-preservation cannot be separated from his or her psyche. As a result, the Declaration of Independence continues, people create governments to secure those rights that will always be part of human nature. When a government no longer respects the most fundamental reasons for its creation, it is the "right" and "duty" of the people to overthrow it.

Opposing viewpoints

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The philosopher Peter Singer holds that the right to life is grounded in the ability to plan and anticipate one's future. This extends the concept to animals, such as 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 severely disabled infants whose life would cause suffering both to themselves and to their parents. Many people with a pro-life viewpoint would strongly disagree with this thesis. More mainstream opponents to the "right to life" ideology would state that abortion is not murder, hence "pro-choicers" are no less "pro-life" than "pro-lifers." They would also state that capital punishment and war are necessary tools to protect society and civilization as a whole, and are thus morally acceptable.

More on [ Right to life ]

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