Health workforce and service delivery

A truly sustainable abortion ecosystem requires more than just services—it demands care that is accessible, rights-based, and rooted in compassion. This petal highlights the importance of having a well trained, adequately resourced health workforce that follows evidence-based clinical guidelines and delivers carefree from stigma and discrimination. Safe abortion for all can only be a reality when governments ensure that health systems are equipped, empowered, and responsive to the experiences, priorities, and needs of the communities they serve. In 2024:

1. Capacity building in the provision of abortion services is key to ensuring safe, evidence-based and stigma-free care. Therefore, we conducted more than 50 training sessions in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, reaching 1,965 participants, 41% of whom are direct abortion providers. These sessions reinforced knowledge and practices essential to improving quality and access to care.

2. We publish several scientific articles to
strengthen the knowledge base on
safe abortion:

Scientific article of a systematic literature review
, published in the
journal Reproductive Health. The objective was
to evaluate the efficacy, safety, satisfaction
and acceptability of telemedicine-guided, self-managed medical
abortion,
either as the sole intervention or in
comparison with standard care or
face-to-face.

Scientific article of Profamilia's cohort of MIA users: published in the journal Public Health in Practice. The objective was to characterize the users of the MIA program and evaluate the effectiveness of medical abortion through telemedicine in Colombia.

Scientific article The objective was to compare both modalities of Profamilia's medical abortion service for people who voluntarily request the service within 12 weeks of gestation, in terms of efficacy and safety.

Ipas LAC collaboration in the book: I can be part of the change: Medical personnel in the fight for safe abortion in Latin America, with the article: "Clarification of values. Alliances with medical societies to promote human rights-based reproductive health in Latin America". The text addresses the mobilization of reproductive health leaders in the Latin American region in favor of reproductive health within a framework of sexual and reproductive rights.

3. We reached 4,952 health professionals who enrolled in at least one Ipas LAC virtual classroom course for self-managed learning. These individuals, primarily from Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador and Mexico, have multidisciplinary profiles and are involved in the continuum of reproductive health care, including abortion, in health facilities. The platform's courses focus on essential topics that personnel responsible for the reproductive health care of women and persons with gestational capacity must know to ensure timely access and quality care. These courses offer updates on the clinical setting, the medical supply chain, registration of medical procedures and legal frameworks, considering the diversity of regulatory contexts in the region. All courses are delivered in a virtual and self-managed modality, which facilitates enrollment and progress at the chosen pace of the users.

4. We facilitated the process of exchanging experiences among medical personnel from Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, in order to learn about practices in the provision of advanced pregnancy termination services. We also facilitated a regional meeting with participants from Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Honduras. In Mexico, we offered 2 virtual sessions at the national level and a face-to-face training workshop with operational personnel from more than 20 Mexican states, benefiting 31 medical professionals.

5. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we made possible the establishment of the first specialized network of providers of late-term abortion services. We collaborated with the Latin American Consortium Against Unsafe Abortion (CLACAI) to create spaces for the exchange of knowledge and best practices, which resulted in the first specialized publications on the subject:

Asystole, for better quality abortion care and The Timing of Abortion: Terms and other key issues.


6. We recorded a total of 16,382 visits to our Web platform for health professionals, made by 2,892 people, mainly from Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, Mexico and Peru. Of these, 225 registered in the network of abortion providers, which, as of the end of 2024, had more than 2 174 professionals committed to the health of women and people with gestational capacity. This network received information to strengthen the provision of abortion and sexual and reproductive health services.

7. Regarding our work in technical and technological assistance for the development of digital tools on safe abortion, in 2024 we strengthened the virtual assistant ERA, created in collaboration with the Center for the Study of State and Society (CEDES). This chatbot provides reliable clinical and legal information on voluntary termination of pregnancy (VTP) and legal abortion (LTP). We collaborated in the updating of its contents and its presentation in key spaces, with the aim of expanding its use and reach among health professionals and decision makers.


8. We contributed to the approval of the decree that authorizes licensed obstetricians in Mendoza, Argentina, to prescribe mifepristone and misoprostol, a key step forward in strengthening access to safe abortion. This measure, promoted in collaboration with CEDES, updates the obstetric vade mecum and incorporates essential medicines for reproductive health care. In addition, it expands the competencies of this professional group, allowing the termination of pregnancy at the first level of care, in line with international standards. The decree also authorizes the placement of intrauterine devices and subdermal implants, as well as the request for complementary studies in sexual and reproductive health, thus guaranteeing more accessible and comprehensive care.


9. We designed the Guide for building resilience for people who accompany and provide abortion services, in order to support coping skills in the face of adverse experiences in the provision of services and accompaniment of safe abortion in contexts of risk, persecution and criminalization. This pilot workshop was attended by medical personnel and escorts from several Mexican states, as well as a representation of escorts from Central America. Attendees shared the challenges they face in providing and accompanying abortion services, as well as putting into practice and evaluating the tools and activities proposed in the Guide, which will become an input for countries in the region and other continents through Ipas nodes.

10. We collaborated in the preparation of the four quick reference booklets of the Protocol for the Comprehensive Care of Persons with the Right to Voluntary and Legal Termination of Pregnancy in Argentina.

11. We supported the University of El Salvador in the development of module 13: "Sexual and Reproductive Health Counseling" of the Master's program in Sexual and Reproductive Health Education and Promotion. In addition, an expert from Ipas LAC provided teaching support for this module.

12. We took part in the Regional Meeting on Abortion and Disability, organized by CLACAI and held in Lima, Peru, in order to visualize within our processes the specific needs of persons with disabilities seeking access to abortion.

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