IVF

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.

Last week, ruling party presidential candidate Johnny Araya tried to claim the mantle of family values, accusing opposition candidate Luis Guillermo Solís of having a different position than that of his own Citizen Action Party. While the abortion question could prove combustible in Costa Rica, Araya is not well positioned to strike the match.

Despite being ordered by a human rights court to legalize in vitro fertilization, Costa Rican lawmakers can't even agree to a discussion of the bill.

In staging yet another protest, Costa Rica's Catholic Church aims to be heard during campaign season.

Doctors at a public hospital in Costa Rica refused to perform a therapeutic abortion last November, saying the woman's life was not at risk.

Thousands of Evangelical Christians, Catholics and social conservatives in Costa Rica mobilized against perceived threats to the "traditional" family and pushed a constitutional amendment to define marriage between a man and woman.

The religious extremist said he will oppose an IVF bill, despite an order by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

A draft bill to regulate the procedure will be submitted to the Legislative Assembly in March.

The San José-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a ruling Thursday night against the government of Costa Rica condemning its ban on in vitro fertilization. The court ordered the country to legalize the practice, which was outlawed in March 2000 by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, or Sala IV.

Costa Rica is one of the only countries to ban the practice.