RIGHT TO

LIFE,
RIGHT TO
DIE
Where the world stands?
A presentation from Group 7
Angco, Durell Symon
Castañeda. Ernest Francis
Roque, Jeremias Jr.

De La Salle University MBA

 First Let me ask the audience…

▪ The right to live

▪ Human Life
▪ No Killings
What is Right to Life? ▪
▪
Protection of Life
Human Rights
▪ Enjoy Life/Happy Life
▪ Right of every citizen
 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 be killed by another human being

The Article 3 of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights
affirms this right,
later became the precedent of the
International Bill of Human Rights.

Philosophy
Before the 18th Century
▪ Concept of rights came from Natural Law
▪ Law mostly on Roman Catholic
▪ Western Europe Influence
▪ Started with Thomas Hobbes

Enlightenment Era (1685-1815)

▪ Century of Philosophy
▪ John Locke “the right of individual, the equality of men”
▪ United States, Declaration of Independence (1776)

“All Men Are Created Equal”

▪ Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1786)

Article 1: “Men are born and remain free and equal

in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only
upon the general good”

History
Post 18th Century
▪ The two declaration of Rights were challenged by political
philosophers
▪ Conservatives – Edmund Burke
▪ Utilitarians – Jeremy Bentham
▪ Socialist – Karl Marx’s

World War 2 Aftermath

▪ Everything changed after the war…especially the holocaust
incident (1939-1945)

▪ Nazis broke the Natural Law

▪ United Nations Assembly, created the Universal of Human

Rights (1948) “UDHR”

Article 1. “All Human Beings are born free and

equal in Dignity and Rights”

History
 Inspired by US declaration of independence and Rights of Man,

US Declaration of Rights of Man UDHR (1948)

Independence
That All Men Are Created Men are born and remain free All Human Beings are born
Equal and equal in rights free and equal in Dignity
and Rights

Philosophy
 The two major violations to human rights with respect to right to life
that we will cover are
Capital Punishment and Abortion:

Capital Punishment is a practice performed by the State

where a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime
committed.

Abortion is the ending of pregnancy by removing a fetus or

embryo before it can survive outside the uterus.

Philosophy
 ▪ History
▪ Current status in different
countries
Capital Punishment ▪ Current state in the
Philippines
▪ Arguments for and Against
Capital Punishment
 Death penalty has been established as a punishment for crimes as a part of the Five
Punishments 五刑, used by the legal system of pre-modern Dynastic China.

In 18th Century B.C. Mesopotamia, the ancient legal principle Lex Talionis which
appears in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, was invoked in some societies to ensure
that capital punishment was not disproportionately applied.

The Hittite Code prescribed death penalty in14th Century B.C., Hattusa

History
 In 7th Century punishment for murder, treason, arson, and rape was widely
employed in ancient Greece under the Draconian Law

While in Judea in 7th to 6th Century B.C., The Torah (Jewish Law) lays down
death penalty for crimes.

Islamic law which is based from the Quran, capital punishment is condoned.

Hanging became the usual method of execution in the 10th century A.D. in
England. However, the decision regarding the matter lies on the ruling
monarch.
History
 Retentionist countries: 58
Abolitionist in practice countries: 30
Abolitionist countries except for crime
committed under exceptional
circumstances: 6
Abolitionist countries: 103

Current status in different countries

 The 58 countries that still have capital punishment
Botswana Belize Jordan
Chad Cuba North Korea
Comoros Dominica Kuwait
Democratic Republic of the Congo Guatemala Lebanon
Egypt Guyana Malaysia
Equatorial Guinea Jamaica Oman
Ethiopia Saint Kitts and Nevis Pakistan
Gambia Saint Lucia Palestinian Territories
Lesotho Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Qatar
Libya Trinidad and Tobago Saudi Arabia
Nigeria United States Singapore
Somalia Afghanistan Syria
Somaliland Bahrain Taiwan
South Sudan Bangladesh Thailand
Sudan China UAE
Uganda India Vietnam
Zimbabwe Indonesia Yemen
Antigua and Barbuda Iran Belarus
Bahamas Iraq
Barbados Japan

Current status in different countries

Right of Life: UDHR – ICCPR - Philippine 1987 Constitution
UDHR (1948) International Covenant On Civil Philippine Constitution (1987)
and Political Rights (1966)
Article 3: Article 6 Article II: Declaration of Principles and State Policies
Everyone has the right to life,
liberty, and the security of Every human being has the inherent SECTION 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life
person right to life. This right shall be and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic
protected by law. No One shall be autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the
Article 5: arbitrarily deprived of his life. life of the mother and the life of the unborn from
No, one shall be subjected to conception. The natural and primary right and duty of
torture or to cruel, inhuman or parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the
degrading treatment or development of moral character shall receive the support of
punishment the Government

Article 6: Article III: Bill of Rights

Everyone has the right to
recognition every-where as a Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
person before the law property without due process of law, nor shall any person be
denied the equal protection of the laws.

Current state in the Philippines

 Revival of the Death Penalty
Last February 2017, the Philippine House of Representatives has approved
House Bill 4727 - a bill to reimpose the death penalty.

However, the bill stalled in the Senate in April 2017, where it did not appear
to have enough votes to pass.

A violation of international obligations?

“The adoption of a draft law by the Philippine House of Representatives to

revive the death penalty sets the country on a dangerous path in flagrant
violation of its international legal obligations,”
- Amnesty International, March 2017

Current state in the Philippines

 Moral Arguments

Supporters of death penalty believe that those who commit murder, because they have taken
the life of another, have forfeited their own right to life

Those who are against it regard the death penalty as inhumane and criticize it for its
irreversibility.

Utilitarian Arguments

Death penalty supporters claim that it has a uniquely potent deterrent effect on potentially
violent offenders for whom the threat of imprisonment is not a sufficient restraint.

However, it was demonstrated that the death penalty is not a more effective deterrent than
the alternative sanction of life or long-term imprisonment.

Arguments For and Against Capital Punishment

 Practical Arguments

Those who support capital punishment believes that capital punishment can
be administered in a manner consistent with justice. That it is possible to
fashion laws and procedures that ensure that only those who are really
deserving of death are executed.

Opponents maintain that the historical application of capital punishment

shows that any attempt to single out certain kinds of crime as deserving of
death will inevitably be arbitrary and discriminatory.

Arguments For and Against Capital Punishment

 ▪ History
▪ Current status in different
countries

Abortion ▪ Current state in the

Philippines
▪ Arguments for and Against
Abortion
In Assyrian Law, in the Code of Assura, c. 1075 BC

I.52. If a woman of her own accord drop that

which is in her, they shall prosecute her,
they shall convict her, they shall crucify her,
they shall not bury her. If she die from dropping
that which is in her, they shall crucify her, they
shall not bury her.

Abortion was accepted as well in both ancient Rome and

Greece. The philosopher Aristotle wrote:

...when couples have children in excess, let

abortion be procured before sense and life have
begun; what may or may not be lawfully done in
these cases depends on the question of life and
sensation.
Aristotle, Politics 7.16
History
The Old Testament has several legal passages
that refer to abortion, but they deal with it in
terms of loss of property and not sanctity of life.
New Testament doesn't explicitly deal with
abortion.

English Common Law agreed that abortion

was a crime after 'quickening' - but the
seriousness of that crime was different at
different times in history.

Abortion was common in most of colonial

America, but it was kept secret because of
strict laws against unmarried sexual activity.

History
 Legal on request
Restricted to cases of maternal life,
mental health, health, rape, fetal
defects, and/or socioeconomic factors
Restricted to cases of maternal life,
mental health, health, rape, and/or
fetal defects
Restricted to cases of maternal life,
mental health, health, and/or rape
Restricted to cases of maternal life,
mental health, and/or health
Restricted to cases of maternal life
Illegal with no exceptions / No
information

Current status in different countries

 Available with Little to No Restrictions
Albania Georgia Romania
Armenia Germany Russia
Australia Greece Serbia
Austria Guyana Singapore
Azerbaijan Hungary Slovakia
Bahrain Iceland Slovenia
Belarus Israel South Africa
Belgium Italy Spain
Bosnia and Herzegovina Kazakhstan Sweden
Bulgaria Latvia Switzerland
Burkina Faso Lithuania Tajikistan
Cambodia Luxembourg The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Canada Monaco Tunisia
Cape Verde Mongolia Turkey
China Montenegro Turkmenistan
Croatia Nepal Ukraine
Cuba Netherlands Uruguay
Czech Republic Niger Uzbekistan
Denmark Norway Viet Nam
Estonia Portugal
France Puerto Rico

Current status in different countries

 Available with Some Restrictions
Algeria Ghana New Zealand
Argentina Guinea Pakistan
Bahamas Hong Kong Peru
Barbados India Poland
Belize Jamaica Qatar
Benin Japan Rwanda
Bolivia Jordan Samoa
Botswana Kenya San Marino
Burundi Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Saudi Arabia
Cameroon Korea, Republic of Seychelles
Chad Kuwait Sierra Leone
Colombia Kyrgyzstan Swaziland
Comoros Lesotho Taiwan
Costa Rica Liberia Thailand
Cyprus Liechtenstein Togo
Ecuador Malaysia Trinidad and Tobago
Equatorial Guinea Maldives United Kingdom
Eritrea Mauritius Vanuatu
Ethiopia Morocco Zambia
Fiji Mozambique Zimbabwe
Finland Namibia
Gambia Nauru

Current status in different countries

 Strictly Prohibited, or only Allowed in Some Cases to Save the Woman's Life
Afghanistan Honduras Panama
Angola Indonesia Papua New Guinea
Antigua and Barbuda Iran (Islamic Republic of) Paraguay
Bangladesh Iraq Philippines
Bhutan Ireland Sao Tome and Principe
Brazil Kiribati Senegal
Brunei Darussalam Lao People's Democratic Republic Solomon Islands
Burma Lebanon Somalia
Central African Republic Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Sri Lanka
Chile Madagascar Sudan
Congo Malawi Suriname
Cote d'Ivoire Mali Syrian Arab Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo Malta Timor-Leste
Dominica Marshall Islands Tonga
Dominican Republic Mauritania Tuvalu
Egypt Mexico Uganda
El Salvador Micronesia, Federated States of United Arab Emirates
Gabon Nicaragua United Republic of Tanzania
Guatemala Nigeria Venezuela
Guinea-Bissau Oman
Haiti Palestine

Current status in different countries

 Status Depending on State/Province

United States

Current status in different countries

 Article II: Declaration of Principles and State Policies

SECTION 12. The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and
strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally
protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The
natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic
efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the
Government.

The Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, Act. No. 3815 of Dec, 8, 1930,
Articles 256 – 259
Art. 256. Intentional abortion
Art. 257. Unintentional abortion.
Art. 258. Abortion practiced by the woman herself of by her parents
Art. 259. Abortion practiced by a physician or midwife and dispensing of abortives.

Current state in the Philippines

 Issue at Hand
According to GuttMacher Institute study in 1997, it is estimated that,
despite legal restrictions, in 1994 there were 400,000 abortions performed
illegally in the Philippines and 80,000 hospitalizations of women for
abortion-related complications

Government’s Position
“The problem here in the Philippines is we have breached also the million.
We are now 105 million… We have to reduce the population. Family
planning… I’m not talking about abortion. I’m talking about family
planning. But the Church is opposed to it. So we are in a bind.”
-Rodrigo Duterte, December 2016

Current state in the Philippines

 For
1. Reproductive choice empowers
women by giving them control over
their own bodies.
2. Termination of pregnancy not baby
3. Access to legal, professionally-
performed abortions reduces
maternal injury and death caused
by unsafe, illegal abortions
4. Reproductive choice protects women
from financial disadvantage.
5. Abortion is justified as a means of
population control
Arguments For and Against Abortion
Against
1. Abortion is murder
2. Life begins at conception, so unborn
babies are human beings with a
right to life
3. Abortion promotes a culture in
which human life is disposable
4. Abortion eliminates the potential
societal contributions of a future
human being
What is Right to Die?
 The right to die is a concept based
on belief that a human being has the
right to end their own life as it
associated with the idea of self-
ownership. This right grants the
person the entitlement to end their
life as one sees fit.

A social issue under this right is

euthanasia.
Philosophy
 ▪ History
▪ Current status in different
countries

Euthanasia ▪ Current state in the

Philippines
▪ Arguments for and Against
Euthanasia
 Euthanasia is the termination of a very sick person's life in
order to relieve them of their suffering.

A person who undergoes euthanasia usually has an

incurable condition. But there are other instances where
some people want their life to be ended.

In many cases, it is carried out at the person's request but

there are times when they may be too ill and the decision is
made by relatives, medics or, in some instances, the courts.

Philosophy
 About 400 B.C. - The Hippocratic Oath
"I will give no deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any such counsel“

14th through 20th Century English Common Law

"More specifically, for over 700 years, the Anglo American common law tradition has
punished or otherwise disapproved of both suicide and assisting suicide.“

19th Century United States

Suicide remained a grievous, though non-felonious, wrong is confirmed by the fact
that colonial and early state legislatures and courts did not retreat from prohibiting
assisting suicide

1828 - Earliest American statute explicitly to outlaw assisting suicide

The earliest American statute explicitly to outlaw assisting suicide was enacted in
New York in 1828 and many of the new States and Territories followed New York’s
example

History
 1935 England
The Euthanasia Society of England was formed to promote euthanasia.

1939 Nazi Germany

In October of 1939 amid the turmoil of the outbreak of war Hitler ordered widespread
"mercy killing" of the sick and disabled. Code named "Aktion T 4," the Nazi
euthanasia program to eliminate "life unworthy of life" at first focused on newborns
and very young children.

1995 Australia
Northern Territory approved a euthanasia bill. It went into effect in 1996 and was
overturned by the Australian Parliament in 1997.

2002 The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia

History
 Active euthanasia occurs when the medical
professionals, or another person, deliberately do
something that causes the patient to die.

Passive euthanasia occurs when the patient dies

because the medical professionals either don't do
something necessary to keep the patient alive, or when
they stop doing something that is keeping the patient
alive

Philosophy
 Active Euthanasia is Legal
Passive Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide
is Legal
Euthanasia in all forms is Illegal
Status Depending on State/Province
Ambiguous Legal Situation

Current status in different countries

 Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Laws around the World

Passive Euthanasia/
Active Euthanasia is Status Depending on Euthanasia in all Ambiguous Legal
Assisted Suicide is
Legal State/Province forms is Illegal Situation
Legal

China
Finland
Italy
The Netherlands France
New Zealand
Belgium Germany
Peru Japan
Luxembourg India
Canada Ireland
United States Philippines Israel
Spain Norway
Colombia Mexico
South Korea Sweden Turkey
Switzerland United Kingdom

Current status in different countries

 Euthanasia is illegal in the
Philippines

In 1997, the Philippine Senate

considered passing a bill legalizing
passive euthanasia, who met strong
opposition from the country's
Catholic Church.

Current state in the Philippines

 For
1. Humans are autonomous beings
and should have the right to make
choices about their lives, including
how and when they end
2. In many religious traditions life is
thought to be a gift from God and
not something we should take away
purposefully.
3. It ends the suffering of the dying; It
gives dignity to a dying a person.
4. It is humane.
Arguments For and Against Euthanasia
Against
1. In giving choice to the few who
want it, the vulnerable are put at
risk of coercion
2. Opinion varies within religious
communities. Some describes the
assisted dying bill as a "profoundly
Christian and moral thing.
3. It goes against ethics; It is against
the oath of physicians.
4. It can urge other people to do the
same.
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Conclusion X
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 Conclusion 1

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Conclusions
Questions?