President Carlos Alvarado confirmed that he will sign the document despite threats of obstruction of the legislative agenda by 14 legislators who oppose therapeutic abortion.
The President sent a message to the legislators of five legislative fractions that insisted on not signing the technical norm. The congressmen said that the president cannot go beyond his duties to regulate article 121 of the Criminal: they think it belongs exclusively to the Judiciary.
Last week, legislator Ivonne Acuña, from the New Republic independent block, said they are willing to do what is necessary to prevent Alvarado from signing the technical standard. When asked what she meant she admitted it was not approving projects of interest for the Executive Branch.
Lawmakers from other parties present at the conference did not deny the statements given by Acuña when they were repeatedly consulted.
The demands of women and groups towards the president to sign the rule that will regulate therapeutic abortion in the country persecute the President.
Throughout 2018, Alvarado stressed that the decision on the issuance of that rule corresponds to the Executive Power and specifically to him as mandatory, however he stressed that at that time of his administration this issue was not part of his priorities.
At the beginning of this year, the minister, then Minister of the Presidency, Rodolfo Piza, said that the president would sign this rule in 2019, however, a few months before the end of this year, the president does not know for certain when.
In Costa Rica, article 121 of the Criminal Code allows women to abort if their lives are in danger during pregnancy. However, a legal framework is needed that makes the rules clear for this article and the absence of such rules prevents women who make the decision to abort from being able to do so.
In mid-September, the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas, admitted that Alvarado still does not know the final version of the Therapeutic Abortion Standard.