New research on abortion access, a movement win to revolutionize birth control access, and a collaborative campaign to bring evidence-based sexual and reproductive health resources to young people—these accomplishments and more distinguished 2023 for Ibis.
Despite the challenging and uncertain global sexual and reproductive health context, our collaborative approach to research and deep, meaningful partnerships with reproductive justice advocates, service providers, and policymakers allowed us to make important progress toward our vision of a future where all people have the sexual and reproductive health resources they need to build the future they want.
Ibis generates evidence through principled partnerships that build power and drive toward lasting change. Our vision of progress is a just, inclusive world where we all exercise our human right to a pleasurable, safe, and healthy sexual and reproductive life.
We conduct bold, rigorous research on critical sexual and reproductive health issues to identify policy and service-delivery changes that will transform people’s lives.
Uplifting misoprostol-only for medication abortion
Baseless attacks on mifepristone in the United States and legal restrictions on abortion around the globe threaten access to medication abortion using the common two-drug regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol. In response to these attacks and the importance of access to medication abortion regardless of legal context, Ibis continued to uplift our own and others’ evidence on the safety and effectiveness of misoprostol-only medication abortion to ensure health care providers and others have access to evidence-based information on this WHO-recommended protocol.
Measuring abortion access in South Africa
Reliable data on the incidence of and experiences with abortion in a range of legal contexts greatly contributes to our understanding of how people access care and where interventions are needed. In South Africa, Ibis is filling critical gaps in the evidence by examining access to and experiences with safe abortion in the public sector. The project aims to determine the level and quality of services provided, knowledge of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996, and barriers to care in order to inform interventions to improve access to safe abortion.
Understanding the impacts of abortion bans
As abortion bans and restrictions force people to wait longer in order to access abortion, our work has sought to understand the impacts of such restrictions, including travel for later abortion care and the support needs of an increasing number of people traveling for care. In Indiana, our Hoosier Abortion Access Study found that one in four participants living in Indiana did not obtain a wanted abortion because of the many barriers imposed by state-level abortion restrictions. As clinic-based care is pushed out of reach for so many, findings from our global SAFE study, which affirmed the safety and effectiveness of self-managed medication abortion, have ever-increasing relevance across borders.
Our approach to research recognizes principled partnerships as critical to building power with communities most affected and leveraging lasting change.
Documenting AANHPI abortion needs and experiences
Almost no research to date has examined the abortion needs or experiences of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) in the United States. The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) and Ibis partnered on a first-of-its-kind study on AANHPI experiences with medication abortion, finding that stigma, a lack of family support, and the unavailability of language support for limited-English or non-English speaking patients were among the barriers to medication abortion cited by participants.
Building toward inclusive care for TGE people
Working in partnership with transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive (TGE) leaders and community organizations, our work has documented the urgent need for investment in safe, affirming, and inclusive care for TGE individuals. We are now launching a new national study to understand the impact of an increasingly hostile political landscape, using our innovative approach that allows people to take a survey that reflects the words they use to describe their own bodies, centering their language and experiences. Data will be used to highlight where intervention is needed to ensure TGE people can access the care they need and support our partners in the fight for gender equity and bodily autonomy.
Expanding the reach of abortion accompaniment
We are working with abortion accompaniment groups in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and West Africa to expand the reach of this model for populations that face barriers to care. These projects are led by our feminist abortion accompaniment partners, who are global experts in providing evidence based, person-centered support for abortion seekers, and through this work are actively expanding abortion access through accompaniment interventions.
Research is necessary, but not sufficient for the change we seek. Large-scale change requires collaboration with advocates and other change champions.
Moving a birth control pill over the counter
After nearly two decades of coalition building, research, and advocacy led by our 200-member Free the Pill coalition, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a daily-use, progestin-only birth control pill as the first-ever over-the-counter (OTC) birth control pill in the United States on July 13, 2023. This transformative change in contraceptive access and reproductive health will help reduce barriers to effective birth control options for people of all ages. Free the Pill is committed to ensuring that OTC birth control pills are affordable, covered by insurance, and available on the shelf in pharmacies, groceries stores, gas stations, online, and more so that they are an option for everyone.
Launching privacy-first period tracker
We updated the features and functionality of Euki, a privacy-first period tracker that also provides comprehensive, inclusive, and evidence-based sexual health information to users without storing data or third-party tracking. Informed by Ibis’s research with partners across the sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice movement and released by Women Help Women in 2019, Euki was recommended by the Mozilla Foundation as the only sexual and reproductive health app dedicated to user privacy and security.
Improving SRH information and access for young people
In partnership with the AMAZE initiative, a project of Advocates for Youth implemented in collaboration with organizations around the world, Ibis supported young peoples’ leadership and ownership of their own reproductive and sexual health as the AMAZE Africa Regional Lead Partner. Through this partnership, Ibis and the youth leaders of our mmoho campaign are connecting young people to medically accurate, affirming, and honest comprehensive sexuality education resources.
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