Costa Rica's IVF ban
Costa Rica, is the only country in the Americas that bans IVF procedures.Catholic church
In-vitro fertilization was banned in Costa Rica in 2000 under pressure from the Catholic Church.
It remains a criminal offence to carry out any IVF procedure since 2000 when the Constitutional Court established that fertilized embryos, even before implantation, should be considered people and cannot be discarded.
IVF procedures require that numerous eggs are fertilized and then the most viable embryos are selected and frozen. The rest are often donated are discarded.
Church media campaign
The Roman Catholic Church recently launched a media campaign to denounce IVF as "homicide," but the government ordered the campaign to be halted.
Court case
However, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said on Monday it will take Costa Rica to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for not legalizing IVF after the commission twice extended its previous deadline for the country to do so.
Some couples have taken their cases to the Inter-American Court, which is based in Washington, and 50 couples have joined to file the petition.
Costa Rican government
The Costa Rican foreign minister, Enrique Castillo, told La Nacion newspaper that he believes "the prestige of Costa Rica will not be affected by the case, because everyone knows that assisted fertilization is controversial."
New bill proposed
A new bill that would have lifted the ban was stopped because some evangelical officials oppose IVF while others said the bill was too conservative and did not protect the women's rights.
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