Right to Life

Medical Ethics
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 unjustly
killed by another human being.
The right to life is central to debates on the
issue of
1. Abortion
2. Capital punishment
3. Prostitution
4. Slavery
5. Right to freedom
6. Euthanasia
7. Genetic manipulation of Human Embryos
8. Self defence
9. Situations of armed conflict
1. Abortion
• Removal or expulsion of an embryo or foetus from the uterus.
• Can happen spontaneously, a miscarriage, or by artificially induced
chemical, surgical, or other means.
2. Capital punishment
1. Right to life is not always guaranteed.
2. In a number of situations states may deprive individuals life itself.
3. Death penalty is one such example.
3. Prostitution

• Girls have their own life to live but some people forced them to
prostitution.
• Some people traffickate them to prostitution.
4. Slavery
• A person is described as a slave if he or she is forced to work for
another person.
• A forced marriage can be regarded as a form slavery.
• If one of the parties, usually the female, is subject to violence, threats,
or intimidation.
• Trafficking in human beings is one of the methods of obtaining slaves.
5. Right to freedom

• Rights to freedom is one of the most important fundamental rights of

human being.
• This means that nobody including government can try to end your life.
6. Euthanasia
• It is described as the deliberate and intentional killing of a person for
the benefit of that person in order to relieve him from pain and
suffering.
• Euthanasia is derived from Greek word.
• ‘Eu’ Good; ‘Thanatos’ Death
6. Euthanasia Types
1. Active Euthanasia
When a person directly and deliberately does something which results in
the death of a person.
It is considered crime in many countries and in India.
But Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland allows active euthanasia
under “ Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review
Procedures) Act.
6. Euthanasia Types
2. Passive Euthanasia:
i) Voluntary: euthanasia carried out at the request of the patient.
ii) Non- voluntary: where the person is unable to ask for euthanasia
due to patients unconsciousness, a surrogate person takes the
decision on his behalf.
7. Genetic manipulation of Human
Embryos
1. Manipulation takes place in order to produce a child with specific
traits.
2. Process involves unjustified human experimentation on the child for
both safety and human dignity reasons.
3. Successful genetic alterations leading to superior children could lead
to division of human species into two or more sub-species.
4. Cloning poses threats to rights on persons identity, individuality and
uniqueness.
5. Cloning violates a child's right to an open future.
8. Self defence
1. Legal concept of excused acts that might otherwise be illegal.
(sometimes termed justified)
2. Self defence an excused acts are committed for the purpose of
protecting oneself or another person.
3. This necessarily includes the use of violence sometimes deadly
force.
9. Situations of armed conflict
1. International law does not outlaw all kinds of warfare and violence.
2. Right to life in such situations is not absolute.
3. International humanitarian law seeks to impose restrictions on the
way violence can be used at times of conflict.
4. Certain categories of persons, civilians, or combatants, who have
laid down their arms or are injured, is considered protected.
5. Right to life of these categories is upheld and can be violated for
example: indiscriminate shelling or deliberate execution or denial of
access to water, food or medicine.
Fundamental rights given by Government
of India
1. Right to equality : which includes equality before law, prohibition of
discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, gender or place of
birth.
2. Right to freedom of religion: freedom of conscience, free profession,
practice, and propagation of religion.
3. Cultural and educational rights: preserve the right of any section of
citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of
minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of
their choice.
Fundamental rights given by Government
of India
4. Right to education: every child whether boy or girl has right to
education.
5. Right against exploitation: which prohibits all forms of forced labour,
child labour and traffic of human beings.
Conclusion
Every human being has a right to life irrespective of race, religious,
political beliefs, legal status, language, colour, national origin, gender,
ethnicity, and health status.