IPAS Mexico

In 2007, Mexico City passed landmark legislation to make abortion legal during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Ipas worked with legislators, media and activists to promote the law change. Since then, women and girls living in Mexico City have had the right to safe, legal abortion free of charge during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy through the public health system. In 2019, Oaxaca State made history by becoming only the second state in the country to decriminalize abortion in the first 12 weeks or pregnancy. But in the rest of Mexico, abortion is legally restricted. Few women outside of Mexico City and Oaxaca State are able to exercise the right to safe abortion.

Ipas has collaborated with Mexican state and federal Ministry of Health authorities, health-care professionals and civil society members since 1995 to improve reproductive health care throughout the country. Programs include work to strengthen health systems by training safe abortion providers and clinic staff, as well as by supporting health centers’ efforts to ensure high-quality abortion care. Ipas advocates for laws and policies that advance women’s right to abortion, conducts community education to reduce abortion stigma, trains young advocates for sexual and reproductive rights, and collaborates on multimedia campaigns in Mexico City to inform women and girls on how to access safe abortion. Ipas is one of the five Mexican organizations that comprise the National Alliance for the Right to Choose (Alianza Nacional por el Derecho a Decidir, or ANDAR), which works to promote women’s sexual and reproductive rights.