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Their grassroots movement broke the silence on the need for safe, legal abortion Historic law change doesn’t happen overnight. In Bolivia, a grassroots movement for safe, legal abortion has been building for many years, harnessing the power of leaders from across the country’s diverse population—which has more than 30 indigenous groups. As momentum grew for […]

Eight years of grassroots advocacy Update: In response to political pressure and protests against some provisions of the newly enacted penal code, Bolivian President Evo Morales repealed the code in its entirety on Jan. 21, 2018—including the abortion provisions, even though they were not the subject of protests. A renewed effort to revise the code is […]

A national grassroots movement to save women’s lives celebrates success Update: In response to political pressure and protests against some provisions of the newly enacted penal code, Bolivian President Evo Morales repealed the code in its entirety on Jan. 21, 2018—including the abortion provisions, even though they were not the subject of protests. A renewed effort […]

Although the need for contraception and safe abortion is heightened in refugee camps and other crisis settings, reproductive health services are often minimal or non-existent, putting women at risk of unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion. In Pakistan, Ipas and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) partnered to conduct trainings focused on one of the major barriers […]

Working with partners, Ipas Bangladesh is taking action to strengthen reproductive health services for Rohingya refugees at two camps and six government health facilities in Cox’s Bazar District in Bangladesh. In recent weeks, nearly 400,000 Rohingya fleeing a brutal campaign of persecution by government military forces in Myanmar have crossed the border into Bangladesh, creating […]

Ipas’s Dr. Guillermo Ortiz says the health needs of women should come first A movement for safe, legal abortion in El Salvador has been building in recent years, and doctors like Ipas’s Dr. Guillermo Ortiz are also starting to speak out. As an OB-GYN who practiced for more than 20 years under the country’s total […]

Since she was a child, Dr. Victoria Ramirez knew she wanted to be a doctor so she could help others. Now, as a practicing OB-GYN in El Salvador, she’s one of a growing number of doctors and other health professionals working to protect women’s health and lives by advocating for a repeal of the country’s […]

Can women accurately self-assess their eligibility for medical abortion? New research from Nepal indicates that, with some simple guidance, they can—a finding with broad implications for the growing question of how much medical oversight of the medical abortion process is needed.

On Monday, August 21, Chile’s Constitutional Court voted in favor of lifting the total ban on abortion in the country. The measure legalizes abortion in cases where the woman’s life is in danger, when the fetus is not viable and in cases of rape. “Ipas applauds the Chilean government and the advocates who have worked […]

Under President Trump’s expanded Global Gag Rule, U.S. government agencies have been directed to apply an unprecedented global anti-abortion policy that will require foreign NGOs to choose between receiving U.S. funding and providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. A new, detailed examination of the gag rule’s likely impact by Ipas Senior Policy Advisor Patty […]

An open-access database of comprehensive information on global abortion laws and policies has been launched jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Population Division of the United Nations (UN) Department of Social and Economic Affairs. Available on both WHO and UN online platforms, the database provides country-specific sexual and reproductive health indicators, and […]

A social media initiative promoting the decriminalization of abortion in Bolivia scored international attention and the country’s first feminist hashtag to trend widely on Twitter: #DespenalizaMiDecisión (or “Decriminalize my decision” in English). To demonstrate the public’s support for legal abortion and women’s right to choose, the National Pact for the Decriminalization of Abortion in Bolivia, […]

A mobile health referrals system in Busia County, Kenya A critical element for ensuring that women and girls get the reproductive health care they need is an effective referrals system, linking communities with health-care facilities. In Busia County, Kenya, Ipas recently worked with county health officials, health-care providers and community members to design and test […]

In her first report as UN Special Rapporteur, Agnes Callamard recommends the repeal of all criminal abortion laws. Her message is clear: When women die from unsafe abortion, governments may be responsible for arbitrary killing. Callamard is Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. Her report, says Patty Skuster, Ipas senior legal advisor, “strengthens […]

Ipas and DKT International announced this month an exclusive partnership in which the Ipas Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) technology will be licensed to DKT for global distribution, furthering their joint mission of providing safe and high-quality family planning and abortion care for the estimated 56 million women worldwide who choose to have an abortion each […]

On Monday, 15 May, 2017, the U.S. State Department announced a plan for implementing President Trump’s expanded Global Gag Rule. The announced plan directs government agencies to apply an unprecedented global anti-abortion policy that will require foreign NGOs to choose between receiving U.S. funding and providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. Under the expanded […]

Abortion has been legal in India since 1971, yet in this sprawling country of more than one billion people, progressive laws do not guarantee access to safe abortion services. An estimated 50 percent of abortions performed in India are unsafe. With an eye toward reducing deaths caused by unsafe abortion, two recent studies in India […]

Medical abortion gives women the option to take pills to have an abortion instead of having a surgical procedure. A new article by researchers from Ipas and Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), lays out a regulatory pathway for medical abortion to be made available without a prescription.

Even though abortion is legal in South Africa for a broad range of indications, many women still encounter barriers when trying to access safe abortion care. Medical abortion, or abortion with pills, is not available in all areas of South Africa and has the potential to greatly improve women’s abortion access. Two new articles by […]

An estimated 26 million women and girls of reproductive age live in refugee camps and other crisis settings around the world. They experience increased levels of exploitation, sexual violence and transactional sex, which can lead to unwanted pregnancy. But their access to contraception, safe abortion care and other reproductive health services is often minimal or […]