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Full-Text Articles in Human Rights Law
Artavia Murillo V. Costa Rica: The Inter-American Court On Human Rights’ Promotion Of Non-Existent Human Rights Obligations To Authorize Artificial Reproductive Technologies, Ligia M. De Jesus
Ligia M. De Jesus
In Artavia Murillo v. Costa Rica, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights examined the question of whether Costa Rica may, under the American Convention on Human Rights, protect human embryos from destruction by banning in vitro fertilization (IVF) in its jurisdiction. The case provoked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' first debate on the existence of international human rights obligations to authorize and fund artificial reproductive technologies as well as its first interpretation on the right to life from conception, established in Article 4(1) of the American Convention. In the judgment, issued over one year ago, the Inter-American court held …
A Pro-Choice Reading Of A Pro-Life Treaty: The Inter-American Court On Human Rights’ Distorted Interpretation Of The American Convention On Human Rights In Artavia V. Costa Rica, Ligia M. De Jesus
Ligia M. De Jesus
In Artavia, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights’ first decision on embryonic life and artificial procreation, where the Court held that – at least before implantation – the human embryo is not a person entitled to human rights protection under the American Convention, while defining the term “conception” to occur at implantation, not at fertilization. The Court also read Article 4(1)’s phrase “in general, from the moment of conception” to mean that only gradual or incremental protection should be given to prenatal life, depending on the unborn child’s physical stage of development. In addition, it held that “personal decisions” – …