Ipas is founded in Chapel Hill, NC, USA in 1973 to complete development of the MVA (manual vacuum aspirator), a life-saving device for abortion care still used in U.S. clinics and low-resource settings around the world. TEST LINK

Distribution of the MVA begins, along with support for the opening of freestanding abortion clinics in countries around the world.

Training health care workers in abortion care begins in 1982 with demonstration projects in Latin American and African countries. Ipas continues to provide clinical trainings for thousands of health care workers each year.

Research, policy and advocacy work is increasingly stepped up to tackle legal, cultural and other barriers to access to abortion. Ipas has worked with partners and other advocates over the years to win progressive abortion law change Mexico City, Kenya, the Democratic Republic and many more countries.

Recognizing the revolutionary power of abortion with pills, Ipas integrates medical abortion into all aspects of programming. Community-level work on issues such as abortion stigma and gender-based violence also is stepped up.

Emphasis on abortion as a human rights issue becomes an important and continuing focus for Ipas. This has led to groundbreaking work such as involvement in the “Green Wave” movement which is liberalizing abortion laws in Argentina, Mexico and other parts of Latin America.

Ipas trainings and support for abortion care in crisis settings disrupts the idea that abortion care is “too complicated” for provision in humanitarian settings. Our efforts in the sprawling Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh are emblematic of this work.

As the global movement for abortion rights and access evolves, so does Ipas. Using the inclusive, human rights-based framework of reproductive justice, Ipas remains singularly focused on abortion, using a comprehensive approach that works across institutions and communities to build sustainable ecosystems for abortion and contraception to ensure everyone has access.

With the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Ipas expands work with United States partners to connect them with our network of global abortion rights experts and to raise public awareness on vital issues such as self-managed abortion with pills, a safe and effective option to increase access.