About Us

We work with partners around the world to advance reproductive justice by expanding access to abortion and contraception.

Ipas Sustainable Abortion Care

Our Work

The global movement for legal, accessible abortion is growing. Our staff and partners in countries as diverse as Bolivia, Malawi and India are working to ensure all people can access high-quality abortion care.

Resources

Our materials are designed to help reproductive health advocates and professionals expand access to high-quality abortion care.

For health professionals

For advocates and decisionmakers

Training
resources

For humanitarian settings

Abortion VCAT resources

For researchers and program implementors

Search Results

This paper assesses women’s awareness of the liberalization of abortion law and their knowledge of a place for obtaining abortion services in Nepal. The data are from the 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey. The results are compared with data from a similar survey conducted in 2006. The results suggest the need to intensify efforts to educate women in Nepal, particularly the most disadvantaged women, about abortion law, including the conditions under which abortion is permitted, and where to access safe abortion services.

As Americans debate whether the United States should act militarily in Syria, my thoughts turn to the women. I have no idea what the right answer is militarily, but I do know that all women refugees are going to need basic reproductive health care, and women who are raped are going to need appropriate treatment, including abortion. So what are we doing for them?

Volunteers are governed by a law passed in 1979 that prohibits Peace Corps from covering abortion care for volunteers (but not staff) for any reason. In 34 years, nothing has changed.

Although abortion became legal in India in 1971, many women are unaware of the law. To evaluate the effectiveness of a behavior change communication intervention to improve women’s knowledge about India’s abortion law and their perceptions about abortion, a quasi-experimental study was conducted in intervention and comparison districts in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Available Here Search Results As governments are complicit in the death and injury that results when women cannot access safe abortion, they are even more directly responsible for the loss of dignity and livelihood and the discrimination that occurs wh …

Available Here Search Results The topic of abortion stigma has caught the attention of researchers and activists working on reproductive health and rights around the world. But as research on abortion stigma grows, I fear that the concept is in danger …

Available Here Search Results Female community health volunteers (FCHVs) are a possible entry point for Nepali women to access timely reproductive health services at the village level. This evaluation assessed the success of a pilot program that traine …

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.

Search Results Unsafe abortion in Kenya is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. To understand the methods married women aged 24–49 and young, unmarried women aged ≤ 20 used to induce abortion, the providers they utilized and the social, …

Search Results Unintended pregnancy among adolescents (10–19 years) and young women (20–24 years) is a global public health problem. Adolescents face challenges in accessing safe abortion care. To determine whether abortion care for adolescent and youn …

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.

Download File Search Results This resource is designed to help advocates and policymakers promote laws and policies that support access to safe abortion for young women. Parental involvement requirements in law or policy are common barriers that push y …

Download File Search Results 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 …

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.