Can women accurately self-assess their eligibility for medical abortion? New research from Nepal indicates that, with some simple guidance, they can—a finding with broad implications for the growing question of how much medical oversight of the medical abortion process is needed.
On Monday, August 21, Chile’s Constitutional Court voted in favor of lifting the total ban on abortion in the country. The measure legalizes abortion in cases where the woman’s life is in danger, when the fetus is not viable and in cases of rape. “Ipas applauds the Chilean government and the advocates who have worked […]
Under President Trump’s expanded Global Gag Rule, U.S. government agencies have been directed to apply an unprecedented global anti-abortion policy that will require foreign NGOs to choose between receiving U.S. funding and providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. A new, detailed examination of the gag rule’s likely impact by Ipas Senior Policy Advisor Patty […]
An open-access database of comprehensive information on global abortion laws and policies has been launched jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Population Division of the United Nations (UN) Department of Social and Economic Affairs. Available on both WHO and UN online platforms, the database provides country-specific sexual and reproductive health indicators, and […]
A social media initiative promoting the decriminalization of abortion in Bolivia scored international attention and the country’s first feminist hashtag to trend widely on Twitter: #DespenalizaMiDecisión (or “Decriminalize my decision” in English). To demonstrate the public’s support for legal abortion and women’s right to choose, the National Pact for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Bolivia, […]
A mobile health referrals system in Busia County, Kenya A critical element for ensuring that women and girls get the reproductive health care they need is an effective referrals system, linking communities with health-care facilities. In Busia County, Kenya, Ipas recently worked with county health officials, health-care providers and community members to design and test […]
In her first report as UN Special Rapporteur, Agnes Callamard recommends the repeal of all criminal abortion laws. Her message is clear: When women die from unsafe abortion, governments may be responsible for arbitrary killing. Callamard is Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. Her report, says Patty Skuster, Ipas senior legal advisor, “strengthens […]
Ipas and DKT International announced this month an exclusive partnership in which the Ipas Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) technology will be licensed to DKT for global distribution, furthering their joint mission of providing safe and high-quality family planning and abortion care for the estimated 56 million women worldwide who choose to have an abortion each […]
On Monday, 15 May, 2017, the U.S. State Department announced a plan for implementing President Trump’s expanded Global Gag Rule. The announced plan directs government agencies to apply an unprecedented global anti-abortion policy that will require foreign NGOs to choose between receiving U.S. funding and providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. Under the expanded […]
Abortion has been legal in India since 1971, yet in this sprawling country of more than one billion people, progressive laws do not guarantee access to safe abortion services. An estimated 50 percent of abortions performed in India are unsafe. With an eye toward reducing deaths caused by unsafe abortion, two recent studies in India […]