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Presentation deck: Scaling medication abortion (MA) and post-MA contraception, meeting women where they are.

The report, Future-Proofing: The Professionalization of an Anti-Rights Youth Generation, examines the recruitment, funding, coordination, and mobilization of young people within anti-rights movements.

In Ghana, people who get abortion pills at pharmacies are just as likely to use contraception afterward as those who go to clinics.

Abortion rights in cases of stealthing: reflections, challenges and legal possibilities in Brazil: In 2025, Ipas-supported research in Brazil examined “stealthing,” removing a condom during sex without consent, and how it may fit within Brazilian law as a form of sexual violence with implications for legal abortion eligibility. This paper argues that pregnancies resulting from “stealthing” should qualify for legal abortion under existing exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape.

This PMAC learning brief examines the pharmacy training and support aspects of a pilot study in two peri-urban union councils in Islamabad Capital Territory. It highlights how frontline pharmacy staff are trained to provide informed, client-centered post-pregnancy family planning care. Drawing on data from the first six months of the study, the brief showcases how the intervention aligns with High Impact Practices (HIPs), offering insights into client profiles, training effectiveness, and family planning uptake.

Ipas’s SMA research in Cambodia and Ghana provides insights into women’s uptake of post-abortion contraception from pharmacists versus clinics. Results showed that although the rates of contraceptive use were the same between women who got abortion pills from a pharmacy versus a clinic, pharmacy clients were more likely to use a less effective method, and contraceptive information and options were more readily offered by clinics, indicating a need for supporting pharmacies in providing more information and effective methods at the time of SMA purchase.

A mixed-methods study assesses whether respondent-driven sampling can be used to feasibly recruit participants with recent abortion experiences in humanitarian contexts, offering practical guidance for researchers working in hard-to-reach settings.

The authors propose improved survey questions about when and how people realize they are pregnant, including response options that capture physical signs, practical constraints, and emotional factors. Better measurement of pregnancy recognition can help explain why people seek care when they do, including abortion care.

Using data from Cambodia and Ghana, Ipas authors compare the SMA information and counseling provided by pharmacists to women with that provided by a health provider at a clinic. While pharmacists and clinic-based providers focused on different aspects of SMA counseling, results indicate that both cadres would benefit from training to ensure their clients receive the best information and counseling possible.

This publication documents the journey of the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Climate Justice Coalition, co-founded by Ipas. The coalition connects more than 100 organizations working to build evidence, challenge harmful narratives, and champion locally led solutions rooted in autonomy and rights.

In Nepal, research explored how repeated climate disasters are linked to changes in women’s safety and daily lives, including increased risk of gender-based violence, but also greater autonomy in decision-making as men migrate for work.

Enabling civil society organizations (CSOs) in sub-Saharan Africa to develop research ensures equitable scholarly representation and addresses local problems in sexual and reproductive health. To this end, a transnational research collaboration was formed to evaluate abortion services and develop the research capacity of two CSOs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The team included Karolinska Institutet, Partners for Reproductive Justice (IPAS) and the National Midwives’ Association (SCOSAF). The objective of this article is to discuss the context of the partnership, including research capacity-building inputs, processes, outputs, and outcomes, as well as lessons learned and recommendations. Activities were tailored to the research capacities of each CSO and the research team of clinical care providers over the two-year project period. Research capacity-building resulted in increased opportunities for team members to conduct research and manage research projects outside of academia. Overall, there were improvements in midwives’ capacity to design and conduct research, and in the midwives’ association’s capacity for research management and project administration. Recommendations for others include pragmatic incorporation of gender considerations, approaches to organizational and individual research capacity-building, and baseline CSO capacity assessments for research management. Health research conducted in a non-academic setting, specifically within CSOs, can be a pathway to research equity. In DRC, it strengthened health professionals in their capacity to generate evidence to influence local abortion policy and health services in Kinshasa, DRC.

Findings from literature reviews in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali A three-year project by Ipas and partners aims to deepen understanding and evaluate solutions to reduce gender-based violence (GBV) and discrimination in secondary schools in Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Mali.

For women in Uganda, the experience of seeking and receiving quality abortion care within the public health system can be a challenge due to a restrictive law and abortion stigma. Research shows that high-quality abortion care is client-centered and provided by clinicians that are trained in compassionate communication to improve a client’s experience.

In a world with increasing threats to people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, Ipas’s work is more vital than ever. We’re no stranger to today’s challenges, and our 50+ years of experience have prepared us well for this critical moment. 

view on Sexuality & Culture From the Counter Up: Strengthening Reproductive Justice Through Pharmacies Abortion pills from local medicine vendors were just as safe and effective as clinic-based care

This publication offers a new definition of sexual and reproductive wellbeing and a short measure to assess it, shifting attention toward whether people are able to live the sexual and reproductive lives they want, not just whether services were delivered.

The PMAC model has demonstrated clear wins for clients (through personalized care) and the health system (by positioning pharmacies as accessible contraceptive outlets). But the third leg of the triangle – the provider – remains less understood: Can pharmacies profit while delivering these services?

In cyclone-affected communities in Bangladesh, researchers found that extreme weather can make it harder for people to get the sexual and reproductive health care and information they need, and that marginalized groups, such as low-income and displaced people, experience the most severe disruptions.

In Argentina, a 2020 law change provided the opportunity to explore how legal reform impacts access to quality care. This study found that while the safety of abortion care in the study sites remained consistent, legal reform expanded access to safe abortion services up to 15 weeks, especially for disadvantaged women.