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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 …