Ipas (organization)
Encyclopedia
Ipas is a global non-profit organization
that works around the world to eliminate deaths and injuries from unsafe abortion
and increase women's ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights
. Ipas’s work is grounded in the belief that women everywhere must have the opportunity to determine their futures, care for their families and manage their fertility.[1]
care and reproductive health
services by:
1973: Ipas begins manufacturing and distributing manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) instruments.
1990: Ipas launches the postabortion family planning initiative.
2003: Ipas creates, defines and implements the concept of "woman-centered comprehensive abortion care".
2009: Ipas University, a self-paced online learning site for reproductive health care providers, is launched.
2009: Womancare Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ipas, is launched to market and distribute the MVA instruments, as well as a number of other reproductive-health technologies.
2009: "Not Yet Rain," a documentary about abortion in Ethiopia, is produced by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Lisa Russell and Ipas.
2010: Ipas has offices in 13 countries and serves 40 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
that works around the world to eliminate deaths and injuries from unsafe abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and increase women's ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights
Reproductive rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
. Ipas’s work is grounded in the belief that women everywhere must have the opportunity to determine their futures, care for their families and manage their fertility.[1]
Scope of Work
Ipas works to improve women's access and right to safe abortionAbortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
care and reproductive health
Reproductive health
Within the framework of the World Health Organization's definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health, or sexual health/hygiene, addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system...
services by:
- Training doctors, nurses, and midwives in clinical and counseling skills for abortion, postabortion care and family planningFamily planningFamily planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
; - Improving health-service delivery to make abortion safer and more accessible for women and less costly for the health system;
- Researching the impact of unsafe abortion and documenting best abortion care practices and policies;
- Working with advocates and policymakers around the world to support women’s reproductive rights and increase access to safe and legal abortion services;
- Engaging with women and men in their communities to expand their knowledge of reproductive healthReproductive healthWithin the framework of the World Health Organization's definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health, or sexual health/hygiene, addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system...
and reproductive rightsReproductive rightsReproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:...
; - Increasing access to reproductive health technologies, including manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) and medical abortionMedical abortionA medical abortion is a type of non-surgical abortion in which abortifacient pharmaceutical drugs are used to induce abortion. An oral preparation for medical abortion is commonly referred to as an abortion pill....
.
Areas of Focus
- Abortion care
- AdvocacyPro-choiceSupport for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
- Medical AbortionMedical abortionA medical abortion is a type of non-surgical abortion in which abortifacient pharmaceutical drugs are used to induce abortion. An oral preparation for medical abortion is commonly referred to as an abortion pill....
- Abortion Technologies
- Youth
- Research
- Training
- Sexual ViolenceSexual violenceSexual violence occurs throughout the world, although in most countries there has been little research conducted on the problem. Due to the private nature of sexual violence, estimating the extent of the problem is difficult...
History
1973: Ipas is founded, following the passage of the Helms Amendment, which prohibits use of U.S. foreign aid to support abortion services overseas.1973: Ipas begins manufacturing and distributing manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) instruments.
1990: Ipas launches the postabortion family planning initiative.
2003: Ipas creates, defines and implements the concept of "woman-centered comprehensive abortion care".
2009: Ipas University, a self-paced online learning site for reproductive health care providers, is launched.
2009: Womancare Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ipas, is launched to market and distribute the MVA instruments, as well as a number of other reproductive-health technologies.
2009: "Not Yet Rain," a documentary about abortion in Ethiopia, is produced by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Lisa Russell and Ipas.
2010: Ipas has offices in 13 countries and serves 40 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas.