One of the main recommendations of a recent report on Costa Rica by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) relates to the country failing to fulfill its human rights obligations regarding women’s access to in vitro fertilization treatments.

Gladys Jiménez, director of the ombud’s office on women, reiterated the report’s call for the state to act more quickly on implementing the decree authorizing the application of in-vitro fertilization in public clinics. She said there has still been no announced date for offering such treatments by the Costa Rica Social Security Agency (CCSS) which runs the country’s public health service. Last year the CCSS announced the national women’s hospital would offer in vitro treatments.

The committee’s July 24 report with its concluding observations pointed out the lack of in vitro fertilization services in the country’ public health system. Jimenez said that the treatment is only available in private clinics and said the state’s delay in offering the treatments in public clinics represents a failure to live up to its human rights agreements.

On a related note, Jiménez emphasized the importance of another recommendation by the committee related to policies and legal measures aimed at protecting pregnant women. She said there is still unacceptable level of “obstetric violence” in Costa Rica in which many women are not informed of their rights as patients during pregnancy and labor, and not provided with options to ensure a humanized delivery.

The CEDAW Committee is an international human rights instrument of the United Nations created in 1979. Every four years Costa Rica, along with other signatory countries, must submit reports on the situation of women.