We are committed to supporting a person’s right to have an abortion using pills—on their own, when and where they want—and to pursuing new models of self-managed care that meet everyone’s wants and needs.
Self-managed abortion is an abortion with pills without a prescription, with or without the involvement of a health provider. Self-managed abortion is on the rise globally due to the increasing availability of simple, safe, highly effective medications that meet people’s need for safe abortion on their own terms. Research and evidence show that people can safely and effectively self-manage an abortion with pills when they have accurate information about the dosing regimen and when to seek treatment for complications.
We work to generate new evidence, share knowledge and explore clinical and regulatory questions within this rapidly evolving area so that people have the resources, support and care they need to manage their reproductive lives. We work in communities to train clinical and non-clinical providers who are already supporting self-managed abortion. And we tackle legal barriers to self-managed abortion, including laws that criminalize it.
Our impact
In 2023, we supported 1,853 access points for self-managed abortion with pills
How to safely self-manage an abortion with pills
Reliable, evidence-based information that gives people control over their own bodies and reproductive choices.
“These women—on their own and without a prescription from a doctor—got misoprostol, and they went home and had a safe abortion.”
An Ipas study in Nigeria provides more evidence that people can safely manage their own abortions.
Ipas videos on abortion with pills attract almost a million views
Ipas Central America and Mexico (Ipas CAM) created two informational videos in Spanish on how people can safely self-manage an abortion using pills. The unexpected popularity of the videos shows just how badly this information is needed.
Got an abortion question? Ask Nurse Nisa
Nurse Nisa chatbot provides abortion and contraception information in Kenya and Democratic Republic of the Congo
Abortion pills without doctor visits—and through retail pharmacies—now legal in U.S
In recent years, the U.S. government has made two federal regulatory changes to greatly expand access to abortion pills, even as some state laws restrict access.
In January 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) changed its regulations to allow local drug stores and chain pharmacies to offer abortion pills. Previously, the F.D.A required that only clinics, doctors and some mail-order pharmacies could provide the drug mifepristone, one of two drugs needed for medication abortions.
In December 2021, the F.D.A. decided to permanently allow people to receive abortion pills by mail. The F.D. A. first temporarily lifted its restriction on pills by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic so that people who needed early abortion care didn’t have to risk exposure for the requirement of an in-person doctor visit to obtain pills and sign a form.
new resource
Abortion self-care: Values clarification for action and transformation workshop facilitator’s guide
Self-managing abortions safely
Vinoj Manning, Executive Director of Ipas Development Foundation in India, writes about Indian women’s use of abortion with pills and how to break down the barriers they face.