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 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 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.
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.
Immigrants in Costa Rica continue to deal with long waits for their residence cards, known as DIMEX, as the immigration system struggles with backlogs....
US military strikes that Washington claims have targeted "narco-terrorists" ferrying drugs to American soil are having little to no impact on Latin America's bustling...
Costa Rica's health officials have stepped up alerts on the dangers of methanol poisoning from contaminated alcohol, aligning with similar actions across Latin America...
