Costa Rican archbishop supports national day for the unborn

San José, Costa Rica, Mar 16, 2012 / 15:04 pm

The head of the Costa Rican bishops' conference says that a proposal declaring March 25 as a Day of the Unborn Child would be a valuable challenge to societal threats against life.

Archbishop Hugo Barrantes Urena of San Jose said he supports the pro-life measure which was recently presented by Costa Rican legislator Rita Chaves Casanova and is slated to be officially announced on March 21.

“Her proposal is a very valuable and important gesture now that we are immersed in the so-called culture of death with laws that go against life,” he told CNA.

Archbishop Barrantes contrasted the proposal with others “that are waiting in line to be approved, including one legalizing in vitro fertilization and another recognizing same-sex unions and still others dealing with reproductive health.”

The Inter-American Human Rights Court has been pressuring Costa Rica to approve in vitro fertilization, which many analysts believe poses a wider threat of abortion legalizing throughout Latin America. 

Archbishop Barrantes said the court is not above the constitution of Costa Rica, “which recognizes that the right to life is inviolable.”

The archbishop noted that the Church will always defend life “from the moment of conception,” and supported the Chaves proposal as one that “openly defends the dignity of the life of the unborn.”