Legalizing abortion does not guarantee that those who need this vital service can get it. For many people who want to end a pregnancy, their path is blocked by long travel times, stigma, threat of violence, or expensive fees for surgical methods. Abortion with pills allows them the freedom to take care of this acute need in their home or another secure space. That’s why the fight for self-managed abortion is a crucial aspect of reproductive justice.

In the beautiful Tororo District of Eastern Uganda, where Tororo Rock rises in the distance, you can find the Petta Health Centre III—an Ipas supported-facility where clients come from across the region to receive comprehensive and caring abortion services from an Ipas-trained provider.

For South African women and girls at risk of unsafe abortion, sexual abuse or HIV/AIDS, there was no better ally than Dr. Eddie Mhlanga, who recently passed away.

In the wake of tropical cyclone Ana, which has killed more than 80 people in Southern Africa, Ipas teams in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia are preparing a coordinated response to ensure that reproductive health care, including access to postabortion care and contraception, remains available to women and girls affected by the storm.

Rina Pradhan is a youth leader working in rural communities of Jharkhand. After receiving training from the Ipas Development Foundation (IDF), she began conducting community and school-level meetings to provide information on accessing safe, timely sexual and reproductive health services.

During COVID-19, women and girls around the world have faced a surge in gender-based violence (GBV) linked to lockdowns and stay-at-home orders issued by governments in response to the pandemic.

In the coastal town of Joal in Senegal, the community are dependent on the sea for everything from their food to their livelihoods. But a reduction in rainfall, plus an influx of sea water and algae, caused by rising sea levels and erosion, means that many species of fish that used to flourish in the mangroves no longer do so.

For nearly two decades, Ipas Zambia has worked closely with the Ministry of Health to reduce maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortion and to expand access to safe abortion services nationwide. However, despite the progress made, persistent and emerging challenges, including the growing impact of climate change, continue to affect sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

A bold new effort to coordinate and catalyze the safe abortion movement across Francophone Africa is under way.