The right to life in the French context. Ethical-legal reflection based on the Oviedo Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Social Doctrine of the Church

Abstract

Issues related to the right to life are no longer internal issues of a country. Between the conventions and international treaties signed and ratified, it is now possible to seize courts and resort to jurisprudences beyond borders in order to seek answers to problems concerning to the value of life. These include, for example, the Oviedo Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights, which constitute two international legal instruments regarding human rights and bioethics. On the other hand, the Social Doctrine of the Church (SDC), through the principles it proposes, has never ceased to call on States to respect this fundamental human right, as “the first common good of society”. Based on some legal cases and some principles of social ethics of the SDC, this article presents an ethical-legal reflection in the French context on the theme of the right to life. The aim is to try to answer the following question: does the right to life constitute a possibility of meeting between International Law and SDC?