By Wendy Anders

Costa Rica accepted responsibility for violating the fundamental rights of a second group of people who could not access In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) during its ban in the country, reported Elmundo.cr, a digital Costa Rican Spanish language news media.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court of Human Rights) made public on Tuesday that it approved of the friendly settlement reached by the State of Costa Rica and 12 people who sued the country for the prohibition of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), thus ending the legal dispute, said Elmundo.cr.

Reparations agreed upon between the parties were redacted by the Court, according to a statement issued by the Secretariat of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

These include, among other things, Costa Rica making In Vitro Fertilization available both through public and private services, as well as providing relevant public authorities with human rights trainings on fertilization and related issues.

IVF was banned in Costa Rica in 2000 following a ruling by the country’s Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice which determined that the technique violated human life and dignity, continued Elmundo.cr.

In 2012, the Inter-American Court issued a ruling in a similar case to the one that was resolved on Tuesday. In the case of Artavia Murillo et al. (“In Vitro Fertilization”) vs. Costa Rica, the government was found guilty of having violated the right to privacy, family life, and personal integrity of 18 individuals.

The court ruled that Costa Rica had denied these people the right to use assisted reproductive technology to attempt to bear children thus violating full exercise of their sexual and reproductive health, and prevented them from enjoying the benefits of scientific and technological progress, among other things, reported Elmundo.cr.

After that sentence, President Luis Guillermo Solis issued an executive decree to accelerate the implementation of the technique, however, the decree was challenged in the country’s Constitutional Court who ruled that IVF fell under the purview of specific legislation.

The issue then went back to the Inter-American Court who ruled on February 26 that Costa Rica’s high court decision violated Costa Rica’s obligation to allow IVF to be practiced, and ordered the country to implement IVF via executive decree.

Since Costa Rica is a member state of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, due to its international nature its rulings take precedence over the country’s laws.

This second resolution of the Court on the IVF issue in Costa Rica was adopted by Judges Roberto F. Caldas, President; Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor Poisot, Vice-President; Eduardo Vio Grossi; Humberto Antonio Sierra Porto; Eugenio Raúl Zaffaroni; and Patricio Pazmiño Freire.

The Costa Rican Judge on the court, Elizabeth Odio Benito, did not participate in the deliberation and ruling on the case to avoid any potential conflicts of interest, concluded Elmundo.cr.