In Central America, Ipas works in one of the most restrictive legal environments for abortion in the world. Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador have complete abortion bans; in El Salvador, women are imprisoned for suspected abortions; and in Guatemala and Panama, abortion is permitted only in limited circumstances. A high rate of sexual violence in these countries contributes to a high rate of unwanted pregnancy, thereby forcing women and girls to either carry pregnancies against their will or else seek clandestine and often unsafe abortions that put their health and lives at risk.
Ipas has been working with partners across the region since the late 1980s to make safe, high-quality sexual and reproductive health care more widely available. We also work to position abortion as a human rights issue and show how restrictive abortion laws violate international treaties ratified by Central American countries. By incorporating a human rights perspective into university-level health sciences curricula, Ipas and key partners aim to build a new generation of health-care providers who are advocates for sexual and reproductive rights. Since Nicaragua’s abortion ban was enacted in 2006, Ipas has collaborated with partners to build a movement in support of repealing the ban. Similarly, Ipas collaborates with partners in El Salvador to support the growing movement for legal abortion there, and supports programs and organizations in Guatemala, Panama and additional countries with efforts to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights.
Program of Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean
Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling brings justice for Beatriz
Dec. 20, 2024: Ipas applauds the decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to recognize abortion as a human right, in a case centered around Beatriz, a young woman whose pregnancy threatened her health and life. This historic ruling against the government of El Salvador highlights how the criminalization of abortion is a severe—and potentially life-threatening—rights violation.
‘She had done nothing wrong’
How abortion rights advocates cleared the name of Manuela in a landmark case in El Salvador read more
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 women can safely self-manage an abortion using pills. The unexpected popularity of the videos shows just how badly this information is needed.
“I’ve always believed that laws should be made in accordance with the health needs of women.”
– Ipas’s Guillermo Ortiz, an OB-GYN from El Salvador Read his story
