A mixed methods evaluation of the Youth Focused Social Network Initiative for safe abortion in Rupandehi, Nepal

The Youth Focused Social Network Initiative was a program to increase young women’s knowledge of and skills in accessing comprehensive abortion care in Rupandehi, Nepal from 2012-2014. The program trained peer educators to provide information and support related to comprehensive abortion care and encouraged adults to support youth in their communities. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the program and found that it had produced positive results in youth knowledge of and attitudes about comprehensive abortion care. Program expansion should be considered in light of continued need in Nepal.

How laws fail the promise of medical abortion: A global look

Even as governments around the world are liberalizing their abortion laws, the vast majority of countries still legally require one or more healthcare providers to approve or perform abortion. Such requirements criminalize women who lack access to healthcare providers and seek abortion without one. Such women are often the world’s poorest and most marginalized women.

Doing more for less: Identifying opportunities to expand public sector access to safe abortion in South Africa through budget impact analysis

The objective of this study was to estimate the costs of public-sector abortion provision in South Africa and to explore the potential for expanding access at reduced cost by changing the mix of technologies used. It concludes that South Africa can provide more safe abortions for less money in the public sector through shifting the methods provided–and says that more research is needed to understand whether the cost of expanding access could be offset by savings from averting costs of managing unsafe abortions.

As early as possible and as late as necessary

The pregnancy of a 10-year-old presents a complex and unprecedented situation but laws sensitive to the needs of the women and girls involved could make a world of a difference.