Example:

No fetus has a right to sustain its life, maintain, or prolong them at his mother's expense (no matter how minimal and insignificant sacrifice required of her is). Still, if she signed a contract with fetus - by knowingly and willingly and intentionally conceiving it - such a right has crystallized and has created corresponding duties and obligations of mother towards her fetus.

On other hand, everyone has a right to sustain his or her life, maintain, or prolong them at SOCIETY's expense (no matter how major and significant resources required are). Still, if a contract has been signed - implicitly or explicitly - between parties, then abrogation of such a right may crystallize in contract and create corresponding duties and obligations, moral, as well as legal.

Example:

Everyone has a right to sustain his or her life, maintain, or prolong them at society's expense. Public hospitals, state pension schemes, and police forces may be required to fulfill society's obligations - but fulfill them it must, no matter how major and significant resources are. Still, if a person volunteered to join army and a contract has been signed between parties, then this right has been thus abrogated and individual assumed certain duties and obligations, including duty or obligation to give up his or her life to society.

ID. The Right not to be Killed

Every person has right not to be killed unjustly. What constitutes "just killing" is a matter for an ethical calculus in framework of a social contract.

But does A's right not to be killed include right against third parties that they refrain from enforcing rights of other people against A? Does A's right not to be killed preclude righting of wrongs committed by A against others - even if righting of such wrongs means killing of A?

Not so. There is a moral obligation to right wrongs (to restore rights of other people). If A maintains or prolongs his life ONLY by violating rights of others and these other people object to it - then A must be killed if that is only way to right wrong and re-assert their rights.

This is doubly true if A's existence is, at best, debatable. An egg does not a human being make. Removal of nucleus is an important step in life-saving research. An unfertilized egg has no rights at all.

IE. The Right to Have One's Life Saved

There is no such right as there is no corresponding moral obligation or duty to save a life. This "right" is a demonstration of aforementioned muddle between morally commendable, desirable and decent ("ought", "should") and morally obligatory, result of other people's rights ("must").

In some countries, obligation to save life is legally codified. But while law of land may create a LEGAL right and corresponding LEGAL obligations - it does not always or necessarily create a moral or an ethical right and corresponding moral duties and obligations.

IF. The Right to Save One's Own Life

The right to self-defence is a subset of more general and all-pervasive right to save one's own life. One has right to take certain actions or avoid taking certain actions in order to save his or her own life.

It is generally accepted that one has right to kill a pursuer who knowingly and intentionally intends to take one's life. It is debatable, though, whether one has right to kill an innocent person who unknowingly and unintentionally threatens to take one's life.

IG. The Right to Terminate One's Life

See "The Murder of Oneself".

IH. The Right to Have One's Life Terminated

The right to euthanasia, to have one's life terminated at will, is restricted by numerous social, ethical, and legal rules, principles, and considerations. In a nutshell - in many countries in West one is thought to has a right to have one's life terminated with help of third parties if one is going to die shortly anyway and if one is going to be tormented and humiliated by great and debilitating agony for rest of one's remaining life if not helped to die. Of course, for one's wish to be helped to die to be accommodated, one has to be in sound mind and to will one's death knowingly, intentionally, and forcefully.

Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain - How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory Bellaonline, and Suite101 .

Visit Sam's Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com