In vitro defiance

President Luis Guillermo Solís presented draft language Thursday morning that would legalize in vitro fertilization 15 years after the procedure was banned in Costa Rica by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court. The draft decree comes three years after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights — based in San José — ruled that the ban violated the human rights of infertile couples trying to conceive.

Major legislative victories were largely absent from this extraordinary session, the month-long period when the executive branch sets the Assembly’s agenda, but Casa Presidencial spun it as a success. According to a statement from Casa Presidencial, 36 of its 77 bills “advanced” and five reached the plenary for debate.

Filmmaker Gabriela Quirós has been following three families for more than 10 years as they fight for the right to have a child via in vitro fertilization in Costa Rica. Her documentary “El Deseo Más Grande” airs Saturday on the UCR's Channel 15.

President Luis Guillermo Solís alerted lawmakers Wednesday that if they did not take action to legalize in vitro fertilization by Sept. 3, he would.

President Luis Guillermo Solís said his office will issue regulations by September to comply with a regional court ruling by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

“We are reaching a point where we will be forced to make a decision. That includes the possibility of passing IVF by an executive decree so that the country does not have to face another sanction,” Solís told reporters.

Costa Rica is (still) the only country in the Western Hemisphere to ban IVF.

Costa Rica is the only country in the Western Hemisphere to completely ban in vitro fertilization. Some 70 couples are suing the government for denying them the right to undergo the procedure, asking for compensation of up to ₡150 million each.

A draft currently pending discussion by members of the Legislative Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee has over 300 motions against its approval.

An attorney representing 22 couples involved in a legal dispute with the Costa Rican government regarding its failure to legalize in vitro fertilization has turned to the country's new ombudswoman, Monserrat Solano Carboni, for help.