Search Results

Near the end of January, several governments in Latin America and the Caribbean called for women to delay pregnancy until the Zika virus is no longer a threat. These recommendations came after increasing evidence that shows a potential link between Zika in pregnant women and microcephaly in infants. “This warning might not sound preposterous to […]

At its Annual Meeting in November 2015, the American Public Health Association (APHA) adopted three new far-reaching statements to support access to abortion and contraception and promote reproductive justice. The statements include a policy calling for an end to restrictions on funding for legal abortion services, which “deny, delay and impede access to abortion services, […]

Health complications from unsafe abortion are preventable. Access to safe abortion doesn’t just give women the ability to exercise their rights—it saves lives. And increasing access to safe abortion can also save countries money. In Sub-Saharan Africa, health system costs to treat unsafe abortion complications range from $68 to $76 million per year. Yet health […]

On Jan. 18, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) launched a continental campaign for the decriminalization of abortion in Africa to bring attention to unsafe abortion which significantly threatens women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights. ACHPR announced the campaign during the African Union Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GIMAC) […]

Update, Jan. 31, 2017: Due to pressure from opposition actors, the president refused to sign this bill into law and it died. Work continues to pass legislation to save women’s lives and protect their rights. Today in Sierra Leone, the country’s parliament voted in favor of a new abortion law that will make safe abortion […]

Comprehensive abortion service-delivery interventions such as offering post-training support to providers can increase postabortion contraceptive uptake and reduce unintended pregnancy, according to a large-scale Ipas study recently published in Studies in Family Planning. The analysis looked at the prevalence and attributes of postabortion contraceptive acceptance at 2,456 health facilities in six major Indian states, among […]

Mifepristone-misoprostol medical abortion (MA) was successfully integrated into public sector surgical abortion services in South Africa and was chosen by a large majority of women who were eligible and offered choice of early termination method, according to a recent study published in Contraception. Legal abortion has reduced abortion-related deaths and injuries in South Africa, but […]

Women who are refugees and/or internally displaced persons (IDPs) have acute sexual and reproductive health needs and deserve to lead the discussion about what those needs are and how to fulfill them.  An innovative Ipas project in Nigeria earlier this year engaged young women—displaced by Boko Haram and living in refugee camps—on this issue. Photography […]

Provider profile: Dr.Meera Thapa Upadhyay Dr. Meera Thapa Upadhyay is a practicing ob/gyn at Paropakar Maternity and Women’s Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. In early October, she sat down with Ipas to talk about her experience providing abortion care—particularly second-trimester abortion. Ipas began training providers in second-trimester abortion in 2007, recognizing that women were being denied […]

Criminalization of abortion denies young sexual violence victims access to life-saving care Years of advocacy by Ipas and partners in Central America paid off last month when leaders of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a strongly worded reprimand to the Nicaraguan government for its continued violation of women’s sexual and reproductive rights. […]

Researchers and partners share findings and implications of a national study in Abuja On November 4, Ipas Nigeria hosted a launch event to share the findings of a national abortion incidence study conducted by the University of Ibadan and the Guttmacher Institute. More than 100 participants from state governments, civil society and provider groups—as well […]

The recently appointed Secretary General of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, has clearly positioned himself as an advocate for safe, legal abortion and has called for the repeal of punitive abortion laws across Latin America and the Caribbean. In his September 27 remarks at the Global Leaders Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s […]

A study by Ipas and the Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development (GLIHD) on the enforcement of criminal abortion laws in Rwanda—When Abortion Is a Crime: Rwanda—was released in Kigali on September 28, the Global Day of Action for Access to Safe and Legal Abortion, and has generated significant media attention. According to […]

International Day of the Girl, recognized on October 11, calls for a movement toward gender equity by investing in and empowering girls. Ipas programs in Bolivia, Mexico and Central America are making this investment through initiatives to end sexual violence against adolescent girls—and to empower them to prevent unwanted pregnancy. “Adolescent girls are disproportionately affected […]

Last week, the UN General Assembly adopted its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes 17 global sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as to eradicate poverty, take urgent action on climate change, and promote health and gender equality for global cooperation over the next 15 years. The SDGs take a multi-sectoral approach to development. Access […]

Abortion stigma is global; women in every country—regardless of the legal status of abortion—are shamed for seeking or for having an abortion. This is discrimination, and it affects anyone associated with abortion: women who have had an abortion or who may seek one and providers of abortion care. Stigma around abortion harms women. It prompts […]

Last week, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a new Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, supported by commitments from governments, international organizations, the private sector, foundations, research and academic institutions, and other key civil society partners, including Ipas. It outlines ambitious yet achievable targets that offer a roadmap to ending preventable deaths […]

Hundreds of Rwandan women and girls are unjustly harassed, arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned each year on abortion-related charges, according to a new report from Ipas and the Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development (GLIHD). Even though the Rwandan penal code was revised in 2012 to permit abortion for some indications, the report describes how […]

In a bold and unprecedented move, leaders from all 11 political parties in Malawi signed a communique—an official statement on the record—supporting both law reform on abortion and the passing of a proposed draft bill into law. Malawi has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world—24 percent of maternal deaths being attributable […]

Roughly seven million women were treated in the developing world for complications from unsafe abortion in 2012, according to a new study by Susheela Singh and Isaac Maddow-Zimet, researchers at the Guttmacher Institute. Not only is the number of women who experience complications very high—and preventable—but the cost for women, their families and governments to […]