RIGHT-TO-LIFE

adjectival phrase (Health and Fitness) (People and Society) Especially in US English, concerned to protect the rights of the unborn child and therefore opposed to allowing a woman to choose whether or not to have an abortion; pro-life. (A positive alternative to anti-choice.) Also, seeking to protect the rights of the terminally ill, people on life-support machines, etc. Etymology: Formed from the noun phrase the right to life; the focus of the movement is the right of the unborn child to quality of life and the moral responsibility of those who already have life to safeguard the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves. The model for this formation already existed in right-to-die (a similar movement against artificially prolonging the life of those who, because of illness or accident, are unable to have any quality of life). History and Usage: For the history of the anti-abortion debate in the US, see pro-. Right-to-life fits into this picture as one of three terms for the anti-abortion lobby, and has been commonly used in the US since the mid seventies. A supporter of this position is a right-to-lifer. Similar moral issues apply to the debate over the artificial 'life' of those who exist for years on life-support machines, and the movement has also concerned itself with this issue. The right-to-lifers had to pretty much settle for a mad bomber repping their cause. Movie Winter 1989, p. 8