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No matter when or where it surfaces, the stigma surrounding abortion has a profound and negative impact. It shames and silences women and girls in need of safe abortion care, subjects abortion providers to harassment and wrongful arrest, and its many other harmful effects ripple through lives and communities. Over the past three years, Ipas […]

By Muadi Mukenge, Ipas Chief of Development and External Relations When I arrived at the Gbagba Community Health Center in a dense Abidjan neighborhood in July, over a dozen women, some with children, were patiently waiting in the open-air hospital reception area. This is normal for the model health center, which sees about 400 women […]

What do photos of a pineapple, a canoe, and women herding goats have in common? Ipas staff who took part in a recent “Photovoice” project supported by the Abortion and Postabortion Care Consortium (APACC) say what unites the photos is that each sheds light on critical questions about safe abortion care: What prevents women and girls […]

Ipas Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Country Representative Patrick Djemo on making progress for women and girls As the Country Representative for Ipas Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Patrick Djemo is a strong advocate for women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights. But he wasn’t always that way. A doctor by […]

Earlier this month, Kenya made progress toward advancing women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights: The High Court ruled to restore the standards and guidelines for comprehensive reproductive health, including abortion. The S&Gs were originally instated in 2012 but withdrawn the following year. The reinstatement will allow providers to offer safe abortion care […]

Estudiante universitaria y defensora de los derechos reproductivos en Chile comparte sus esperanzas para un futuro mejor  Mariana Sánchez es una estudiante en pedagogía en historia y ciencias sociales, en la Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano, ubicada en Santiago, Chile. Allí, ella dirige a otras mujeres jóvenes en el trabajo para prevenir y abordar la […]

A college student and reproductive rights advocate in Chile shares why she’s hopeful for the future  Mariana Sánchez is a student at the Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano in Chile, where she is completing her undergraduate degree in history and science education. There, she leads other young women in work to prevent and address campus […]

Ipas Myanmar Country Director Ni Ni on working in a restrictive environment   In Myanmar, where abortion is only permitted to save the life of a woman, unsafe abortion is the second leading cause of maternal death. The restrictive environment can slow progress to increase access to safe abortion and contraceptive care.   But Ipas Myanmar Country Director Ni Ni, who […]

Last month, Rwanda made historic progress toward advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights: President Paul Kagame pardoned 367 women and girls who had been jailed for abortion, and a ministerial order broadened the conditions under which people can access abortion. As part of the order, girls under 18 have the right to terminate a […]

By Patty Skuster, Ipas Senior Legal Advisor This morning the Trump Administration announced further expansion of the Global Gag Rule, which will result in even greater harm to the health and lives of women and families around the world. The Administration also announced reductions in funding to the Organization of American States—an important voice for […]

A Q & A with Anu Kumar (Ipas President & CEO), Kristen Shellenberg (Ipas Senior Researcher) and Alex Teixeira (Ipas Senior Technical Advisor) Why was this toolkit developed? Abortion stigma plays a critical role in the social, medical and legal marginalization of abortion around the world and leads to negative outcomes for women, girls, trans […]

Muadi Mukenge on UN’s 2019 Commission on the Status of Women From March 11 to 22, world leaders and women’s rights advocates—including Ipas staff—will attend the UN’s 63rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the principal UN space committed to women’s rights. This year, the global conference is focusing on how public services and […]

Dra. Graciela Lukin, ginecobstetra argentina y defensora de los derechos de las mujeres, habla sobre lo que la motiva Graciela Lukin siempre quiso ser útil a la gente. A los 17 años, cuando las personas empezaron a preguntarle qué iba a estudiar al terminar el secundario, decidió que quería ser instrumentadora. Ingresó en la facultad […]

Sesión de preguntas y respuestas con Dra. María Paula Botta, prestadora de servicios y promotora argentina María Paula Botta es médica y prestadora de servicios de aborto en Rosario, Argentina. Promotora apasionada de la salud y los derechos sexuales y reproductivos, Botta es integrante de la Red de profesionales de la salud por el derecho […]

Argentinian provider Dr. Graciela Lukin on what motivates her Read the profile in Spanish here. Graciela Lukin always wanted to help people. At 17, when people began to ask her what she planned to do after high school, she decided she wanted to pursue medicine. She enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires’ School of Medicine, where she would complete […]

A Q & A with Argentinian provider and advocate Dr. María Paula Botta Read the Q & A in Spanish here. María Paula Botta is a physician and abortion provider in Rosario, Argentina. A passionate advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights, Botta is member of the Network of Health Professionals for the Right […]

Prior to 2002, abortion was illegal in Nepal, but today women and girls have the right to safe, legal abortion free of charge at public health facilities. In this Q & A, Radhika Nayaju, a district coordinator for Ipas Nepal, talks about the challenges of making access to abortion services a reality for women in […]

Moraa Beryl, 23, lives in Kisumu, Kenya, and is the leader and founder of She Deserves to Soar. She spends her days traveling across Kenya, speaking with and mentoring adolescent girls and young women. She is a 2019 Zuri Award honoree. The awards recognize Kenyan women dedicated to creating positive change in their communities. What […]

In 2017, Ipas commissioned photographer Farzana Hossen to document the experiences of women seeking reproductive health care services in Rohingya refugee camps, where Ipas Bangladesh has been working with partners to improve access to reproductive health services. She found that many women and girls in these camps had experienced unimaginable violence, like Noor, who was […]

Hesperian Health Guides’ website covers a wide range of topics, but the most popular is safe abortion and family planning. “We get six million users a year, and 1.2 million of those go to safe abortion and family planning information,” said Sarah Shannon, Executive Director at Hesperian. “It’s just a few pages on the site, […]