The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Costa Rican law prohibiting in vitro fertilization violates the American Convention on Human Rights(Murillo et al. v. Costa Rica. The Costa Rican law is intended to protect human life, including embryonic ife, from the moment of conception, which is guaranteed by the Convention. A preliminary commentary by Piero A. Tozzi, J.D. indicates that the court “elevated secondary rights – such as the right to privacy, a right to personal
autonomy, and a right to sexual and reproductive health – above the right to
life.”
A finding that a particular procedure is a “human right” would logically lead either to a complate prohibition of conscientious objection to it, or at least a severe restriction of freedom of conscience of health care workers with respect to it.