If the world resembled the Central American nation of Costa Rica more, it would be a much better place to live. Their constitution and laws protect human life from conception, and therefore all abortions are prohibited, as well as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the Morning After Pill. Our HLI affiliate in Costa Rica, Asociación para la Defensa de la Vida (Association for the Defense of Life, or ADEVI ) is quite active and effective in providing pro-life education and services, such as help with crisis pregnancies. Even in this tropical paradise, however, there are

still pro-life challenges.

HLI HUMANAE VITAE CONFERENCE

Dr. Alejandro Leal (university professor in genetics) and president of ADEVI saw the need for a conference to counter the growing contraceptive culture in Costa Rica. We discussed this idea at the World Youth Days in Cologne, Germany in 2005. Alejandro and I agreed on the value of promoting the Church's teachings on the regulation of births during the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical letter Humanae  vitae (HV).

Alejandro is proud that the vast majority of his fellow citizens are against surgical abortion. However, contraception, including the abortifacient types, is commonly used. Many doctors have not even heard of Natural Family Planning (NFP). He also told us that he and ADEVI have a good relationship with the bishops, who are quite vocal in support of pro-life issues. A big problem that remains, however, is priestly silence from the pulpit and "follow your conscience" advice in the confessional, rather than the formation of consciences according to the mind of the Church.

The media can be quite bad as well. The day we arrived, the main headline on the front page of La Nación (the most important newspaper in the country) was a statement by the minister of health in favor of introducing the Morning After Pill and denying that it causes early abortions by preventing the implantation of very young preborn children in the uterus. There are also destructive "reproductive health" bills that are regularly introduced in their congress.

The title of the HLI conference was "Simposio Científico Teológico de los Métodos Naturales de Regulación de la Fertilidad" (Scientific and Theological Symposium on Natural Methods of Regulating Fertility). It was held at the Catholic University of Costa Rica. Sponsors included the Pascucci Foundation, which contributed substantially, the Bishop's Conference of Costa Rica, ADEVI, and HLI. Both Adolfo Castañeda, from our Vida Humana Internacional (VHI) Miami regional office for Latin America, and I went down as speakers. Leaders attended from over 12 countries, including: Nicaragua, Peru, Cuba, Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, USA, Spain and Chile.

We were happy to directly reach 300 people during this two-day conference on Natural Family Planning and Humanae vitae. Most of the participants were Catholic lay leaders of family/marriage ministries. There were also many priests and nuns, several of whom were involved in marriage and family ministries or the Bioethics Commission of the Conference of Bishops. A unique aspect of the event was how they organized two tracks: one session in the morning, for those who could take professional time off, and evening sessions for those who could only attend after work.

The opening Mass was presided by Bishop José Francisco Ulloa, Coordinator of Family Ministry for the Costa Rican Bishops. In his homily, Bishop Ulloa left no one in doubt about where the Church stands on life issues. He denounced the promotion of the Morning After Pill by IPPF-Costa Rica and the anti-life aspects of the Regional UN Youth Conference for Ibero-American (Spanish and Latin American) Presidents being held in El Salvador later that very same week.

COSTA RICANS DEFEND THEIR PRO-LIFE LAWS BEFORE THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES

Ironically, just as our HLI conference began in Costa Rica, our affiliate leader, Dr. Alejandro Leal, had to leave for Washington, DC. He was asked by the Costa Rican government to participate as an expert witness in a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding a lawsuit against his country. An infertile married couple, with the help of the infamous Center for Reproductive Rights, made a formal complaint that their "rights" were being "violated" by Costa Rica's law against in vitro fertilization. Several years ago, Alejandro and ADEVI had been instrumental in a Costa Rican Supreme Court decision that outlawed any form of IVF. Interestingly, the wife who had initially started the legal action has since converted to the pro-life side in a similar fashion to Norma Mc-Corvey of Roe v. Wade in the US. This did not stop the legal action, however, since they found other couples to sign on to the legal challenge.

The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights has been trying to bully Latin American countries into changing their prolife laws into pro-death ones in recent years. They had a successful lawsuit in Colombia, which opened the gates for abortion. Ironically, their plaintiff there was a "Monica Roa," a clear reference to Roe v. Wade. Fortunately, Alejandro Leal told us the hearings on Costa Rica in Washington did not go well for the Center for Reproductive Rights.

COSTA RICA ON THE BRINK OF DEPOPULATION

What worries HLI most about Costa Rica is that this small Central American country of only about 4 million inhabitants is on the verge of falling into demographic decline like so many other places in the world. During the mid 1960's, the average Costa Rican family had about 5 children. Fertility has dropped so fast in recent years, however, that there is no agreement on today's fertility rates. Some demographic sources claim Costa Rica's fertility rate is 2.1 children per family, but locally the rate of 1.7 children is frequently quoted. One area everyone agrees on is that the birthrate is still falling.

During the conference, Adolfo and I gave talks on Humanae vitae and Adolfo gave conference attendees an introduction to the Theology of the Body of Pope John Paul II. I highlighted the prophetic aspects of HV and Adolfo the doctrinal and moral ones. We also informed the audience about the worldwide anti-life movement, with a special reference to Latin America. Adolfo offered the enthusiastic participants the resources of VHI: radio, website, materials, etc. Drs. Concepción Medialdea (Spain) and Sandy Porras (Costa Rica) delivered excellent talks on the more specialized issue of the scientific basis of NFP and the dangers and abortifacient effects of the Pill and other "contraceptives."

We always take advantage of these trips to bring pro-life books and other educational materials. About 100 pounds of books, CDs, brochures, cards and posters we carried to Costa Rica were either sold or given away at the conference. A favorite item among our affiliate leaders was a mold that makes models of a preborn child at 10 weeks of pregnancy. We left several with them, which will hopefully provide a wealth of baby-saving dolls to be used in their crisis pregnancy and educational work.

Getting the pro-life message out through the media is also a high priority on our missionary trips. Adolfo Castañeda was interviewed by Telefides, the Costa Rican national TV station. During the taped interview, which lasted a full hour, he denounced so-called "reproductive health" and explained that it includes the legalization of surgical abortion, pushed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) worldwide. I was interviewed by Costa Rican Catholic Radio, and the National Catholic Newspaper, Eco Católico, about the conference and HLI's work. This newspaper does an excellent job of defending the faith and the culture of life.

HLI hopes that Costa Rica will continue to be a pro-life example to the world. They certainly need to rebuild their traditional love of families with several children. One bright spot is the strong effort by the government to fight the abuse of children in prostitution, which is aimed at the many tourists who visit Costa Rica. Upon arrival into the country, everyone now receives a firm warning that the sexual exploitation of children is severely punished. We also cheered when ADEVI obtained a huge victory against IPPF-Costa Rica: the Costa Rican government prohibited any media outlet from advertising the Morning After Pill.

Please pray for Costa Rica, that they will successfully maintain and spread their pro-life culture throughout the world.