International pressure to force Costa Rica to legalise IVF
Government is resisting
Activists are determined to haul Costa Rica
before the Inter-American Court on Human Rights to force the Central American
country to legalise IVF. In 2000, its Supreme Court declared that IVF violated
the right to life of surplus embryos. This effectively made IVF procedures
impossible.
Subsequently, according to a report in the
IPS news service, 10 Costa Rican couples appealed to the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), arguing that the ban violated their right
to form a family. In August the
IACHR agreed and told the Costa Rican government to revise the law to conform
to international conventions.
The government has fought back by
introducing a bill on IVF which declares that every IVF embryo must be used,
which effectively makes storing frozen embryos impossible. The bill also
requires a special psychological test for couples wishing to undergo IVF.
The IACHR has declared that if there is
“insufficient or no will” on the part of the government, it will
refer the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Court and the Commission are bodies
set up by the Organization of American States to uphold basic rights and
freedoms in the American hemisphere. Member states have to agree to submit to
their adjudicaton. The Commmission is based in Washington DC and the Court in –
ironically – Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose. ~ IPS News, Dec 17
Michael Cook
Costa Rica
human rights
IVF
More Stories
BioEdge has closed its doors
After 23 years, BioEdge ceased published in May 2024. Not that there isn't lots to report on and talk about,...
How liberal are American bioethicists?
There is growing acknowledgement of the fact that the backgrounds, ideas, and politics of American academics are out of step...
Doctors can be socialized to cooperate in morally despicable evil, says bioethicist
Bioethicist Carl Elliott seems to relish stirring up fellow bioethicists and the medical profession. In his latest book, The Occasional Human...
3 sperm donors from same family in Quebec have sired 600 children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children by offering free sperm on the...
American IVF clinics are happily offering sex selection
The United States is one of the few countries where IVF sex selection is legal – and it is a...
Owner of castration website in UK found guilty of grievous bodily harm
“Enhancement” normally connotes adding powers beyond normal human functioning. However, there are dark kinds of enhancement which remove them. A...