|
In-Vitro
Fertilization
Defended
in
Court
In
2000,
the
Costa
Rican
Constitutional
Court
ruled
that
In-Vitro
Fertilization
(IVF)
in
the
country
was
unconstitutional
because
it
violated
the
right
to
life
of
the
unborn
child.
Four
years
later,
the
pro-abortion
Centre
for
Reproductive
Rights
petitioned
the
Inter-American
Commission
on
Human
Rights
to
accept
a
case
claiming
that
the
human
rights
of
two
Costa
Rican
couples
were
violated
by
the
ban.
Later,
Costa
Rica
approved
a
new
law
prohibiting
inivitro
fertilization
as
consistent
with
Article
4 of
the
American
Convention
on
Human
Rights
(or
the
“Pact
of
San
José”),
which
explicitly
protects
life
“from
conception.”
That
law
has
since
been
taken
to
court
and,
today
the
pro-life
Alliance
Defense
Fund
law
firm
filed
an
amicus
brief
supporting
it.
According
to
Alliance
Defense
Fund
Senior
Legal
Counsel
Piero
Tozzi,
ADF
pointed
out
that
Costa
Rica
was
acting
within
its
sovereign
capacity
in
outlawing
the
procedure,
which
almost
always
results
in
the
destruction
of
“spare”
human
lives
at
the
embryonic
stage
of
development.
ADF
argued
that
the
Court
should
grant
Costa
Rica
a
“margin
of
appreciation,”
whereby
it
may
decide
the
best
way
to
protect
the
life
of a
developing
human
being,
and
that
the
Court
should
not
exceed
its
authority
by
intruding
upon
an
area
that
is
solely
within
the
competence
of
Costa
Rica.
“No
one
should
try
to
usurp
the
sovereign
right
of a
nation
to
determine
the
best
way
to
protect
life.
The
court
should
not
exceed
its
authority
by
intruding
upon
an
area
of
domestic
policy
that
is
solely
Costa
Rica’s
to
decide,”
he
said.
In
other
words,
the
Court
should
not
impose
a
supranational
Roe
v.
Wade-type
decision
on a
sovereign
nation,
while
disregarding
the
explicit
text
of
the
governing
document.
Tozzi
talked
amore
about
the
case
and
the
pro-life
protections
Costa
Rica
guarantees
to
unborn
children:
Unique
among
human
rights
treaties,
the
Pact
of
San
José
explicitly
recognizes
the
legal
personhood
of
the
unborn
and
requires
that
the
State,
in
general,
defend
life
from
the
moment
of
conception.
This
reflects
the
values
of a
majority
of
states
of
the
Americas
that
have
ratified
the
treaty,
many
of
which
protect
the
unborn
person’s
right
to
life
in
their
laws
(as
does
Costa
Rica)
and
in
their
constitutions
(i.e.,
Chile,
the
Dominican
Republic,
Ecuador,
El
Salvador,
Guatemala,
Honduras,
Jamaica,
Paraguay
and
Peru).
The
case
concerns
Costa
Rican
couples
alleged
to
be
“victims”
because
they
could
not
access
IVF
treatment
in
Costa
Rica.
It
is
believed
that
this
action
is
being
promoted
as a
test
case
by
international
pro-abortion
groups
to
weaken
the
explicit
protections
of
unborn
life
contained
in
the
treaty
and
to
advance
an
anti-life
agenda
in
the
region.
Under
the
Inter-American
system,
a
complainant
first
must
file
a
petition
with
the
Inter-American
Commission
on
Human
Rights,
which
must
issue
a
non-binding
merits
report,
before
a
case
can
proceed
to
the
Inter-American
Court,
which
adjudicates
whether
a
violation
of
the
treaty
has
occurred.
Unfortunately,
in
recent
years,
the
Inter-American
Commission
has
become
radicalized,
and
certain
of
its
members
have
been
outspokenly
pro-abortion,
despite
the
explicit
wording
of
the
Pact
of
San
José.
In
this
case,
the
Commission
completely
ignored
the
defense
of
Costa
Rica,
which
was
based
on
Article
4
with
its
“from
conception”
provision.
Instead,
it
held
Costa
Rica
to
have
violated
ancillary
provisions
concerning
privacy
and
family
life
and
equal
protection.
In
its
non-binding
merits
report
issued
last
summer,
the
Commission
also
directed
that
Costa
Rica
should
change
its
law
on
in
vitro
fertilization,
a
recommendation
which
far
exceeded
its
authority.
Following
this,
Costa
Rica’s
legislature
rejected
by
one
vote
a
proposal
to
alter
its
law.
In
advance
of
this
vote,
ADF
submitted
an
opinion
letter
to
every
member
of
Costa
Rica’s
legislature
pointing
out
that
Costa
Rica
was
within
its
right
to
protect
unborn
life
by
outlawing
the
IVF
procedure,
consistent
with
its
obligations
under
the
Pact
of
San
José.
Following
Costa
Rica’s
affirmation
of
its
existing
law,
the
Inter-American
Commission
commenced
the
present
action.
At
the
end
of
last
month,
Costa
Rica
filed
its
response,
rejecting
the
demand
that
it
alter
its
law
and
asserting
its
sovereign
right
to
defend
life
as
being
completely
consistent
with
its
treaty
obligations.
By
submitting
its
brief,
ADF
stands
united
with
the
people
of
Costa
Rica
in
their
commitment
to
defending
unborn
life,
the
principle
of
sovereignty
and
the
importance
of
rule
of
law.
ADF
has
worked
with
a
number
of
allies
throughout
the
region,
including
Alvaro
Paul
of
Chile,
the
principal
author
of
the
amicus
brief,
and
pro-life
Congresswoman
Rita
Chaves
Casanova.
Joining
ADF
on
the
brief
was
Americans
United
for
Life
and
the
Center
for
Legal
Studies
at
C-FAM.
By
Steven
Ertelt
|
LifeNews.com
|
