Logically, all women receiving abortion care should also receive contraceptive information, and a method if they wish one; likewise, family planning providers should be equipped to support women who have unintended pregnancies. However, integrating family planning and abortion care is often a challenge.
Both Wubalem and Chaltu live only five kilometers from the nearest public health clinic. Under Ethiopian law, both have the right to safe, legal abortion. Yet, because of unnecessarily broad interpretation of U.S. government policy, one was denied this fundamental right.
To explore the feasibility of educating communities about gynecologic uses for misoprostol at the community level through community-based organizations in countries with restrictive abortion laws, the Public Health Institute and Ipas conducted an operations research study in 2012.
This study examined awareness of unwanted pregnancy, abortion behaviour, methods and attitudes toward specific legal indications for abortion via a school-based internet survey among 378 adolescents aged 12–21 years in three Rio de Janeiro public schools.
Despite the adoption of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act in 1972, access to safe abortion services remains limited in India. Awareness of the legality of abortion also remains low, leading many women to seek services outside the health system.
Sex workers’ need for safe abortion services in Uganda is greater than that of the population of women of reproductive age because of their number of sexual contacts, the inconsistent use of contraception and their increased risk of forced sex, rape or other forms of physical and sexual violence. This study sought to understand sex workers’ experiences with induced abortion services or postabortion care (PAC) at an urban clinic in Uganda. Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with sex workers. Several important programmatic considerations for safe abortion services for sex workers were identified. Most important is creating community-level interventions in which women can speak openly about abortion, creating a support network among sex workers, training peer educators, and making available a community outreach educator and community outreach workshops on abortion.
A report on the Expanding the Provider Base Workshop hosted by Ipas in 2013. The workshop brought together delegates from nine countries in Africa, Asia and North America and facilitated the sharing of resources and strategies related to expanding the role of non-physician providers in abortion-related care. It details discussion of key topics at the workshop, including the need for and evidence behind expanding cadres of CAC/PAC providers.
A systematic review of 25 studies, covering 346,000 women, to determine whether abortion care for adolescent and young women differs from abortion care for older women—with a focus on efficacy, safety and acceptability. It concludes that limited evidence indicates that abortion of all types at all gestational ages is effective, acceptable and safe for adolescents and young women, and strongly recommends offering adolescents a full range of contraceptives after abortion, including intrauterine contraception.
This publication provides an overview of the neglected sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of migrant, refugee and displaced women.
Where abortion is illegal, women suffer. Before 2002 when abortion was illegal in Nepal, women were imprisoned, half of all hospital admissions were due to complications from clandestine abortions, and hundreds of women died each year.
La negativa por parte de profesionales de la salud a proporcionar servicios a los que se oponen por motivos morales o religiosos es una barrera significativa para el acceso de las mujeres a servicios de aborto seguro y otros servicios de salud reproductiva. Esta publicación contiene recomendaciones para promulgar leyes y reglamentos que salvaguarden el acceso de las mujeres a los servicios a la vez que protejan el derecho de cada profesional de la salud a la objeción de conciencia. Además, proporciona información sobre las normas de derechos humanos que abordan la negativa por parte de profesionales de la salud, asà como una lista de recursos adicionales.
The study investigated whether women with etonogestrel implant placement in the immediate postabortion period have similar continuation rates to women with interval placement.The risk of discontinuation in women with postabortion placement was higher but not statistically different than women with interval placement (unadjusted hazard ratio 1.79, 95% confidence interval 0.81-3.96). For women who want a contraceptive implant after an abortion, immediate placement should be available.