Religion & Law

I'm paying particular attention to Costa Rica these days because my son, a budding ecologist, will be going there on a trip.  So I was interested this weekend to see both Thomas Friedman's Times column describing the country's intense policy commitment to biodiversity and renewable energy sources -- "[m]ore than any nation I?ve ever visited, Costa Rica is insisting that economic growth and environmentalism work together" -- and the Pope's commendation of its pro-life constitution and other policy positions.  I'm not saying we should call Costa Rica a model of "pro-life progressivism" ... but it's interesting to see anti-abortion policies and strong (and pretty successful and stable) environmentalism together as majority policies, rather than held by different, clashing parties as they tend to be here.

UPDATE: Oh well ... The Pope's commendation was back in 2007.  (I let myself be misled by a collection of Zenit links organized by topic rather than current-ness.)  And there are reports that abortion incidence is rising quickly there despite the criminal laws.