Wednesday 15 October 2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Keep An Eye On The
Rivers, CNE Advises
Court Orders CCSS To
Perform Tests For In
Vitro Fertilization
ICE Announces
300.000 New GSM Lines For December
AOL Founder Steve Case’s
Project in Costa Rica
Delayed Until 2010
Costa Rican Kids
'Disarmed'
Everything Costa
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Court Orders CCSS To
Perform Tests For In
Vitro Fertilization
Although a decision in
2000 by the Sala
Constitucional (Constitutiontal
Court) prohibits in
vitro fertilization,
a decision Tuesday by
the Tribunal Contencioso
Administrativo forces
the Caja Costarricense
del Seguro Social (CCSS)
to examine a woman who
has demanded her right
of in vitro
fertilization.
The decision means that
48 year old Iliana
Henchoz Bolaño can now
receive the required
medical exams and
diagnostics to determine
the feasibility for the
in vitro procedure, a
procedure that woman has
been claiming as her
right for the last 8
years.
The court decision means
that if an in vitro
fertilization is
indicated the CCSS is
ordered to perform the
procedure as set out in
the Sala IV decision of
2000.
However, judge Luís
Paulino Hernández
considers the decision
useless in obligating
the CCSS to run the
exams and diagnostics,
as he feels there is
sufficient evidence to
indicate that the
results of the tests
will be negative.
Bolaño expressed
pleasure at the court
decision as she feels
she now has a chance at
having a family, a
family she has been
wanting for the last
eight years, when she
first made her appeal to
the Constitutional Court
when the CCSS first
refused her treatment.
"Costa Rica becomes the
first Latin American
country that orders its
Social Security to
treating people with
infertility", said
Gerardo Trejos, lawyer
for Bolaño.
In making their
decision, judges Julio
Cordero, Alner Palacios
and José Hernández
considered that the Sala
Constitucional decision
did not prohibit in
vitro fertilization,
but rather the method
used in the country.
According to the judges,
medical science has
evolved in such a way
that the procedure can
be performed without
violating rights of an
embryo.
For his part, the
president of the CCSS,
Eduardo Doryan, said
that the CCSS lawyers
will be closely be
examining the court
decision and order.
In vitro (Latin:
within the glass) refers
to the technique of
performing a given
experiment in a
controlled environment
outside of a living
organism; for example in
a test tube. In vitro
fertilization is a
well-known example of
this.
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