Comprehensive abortion care: A game-changer for women’s health, Maguire says

Access to comprehensive abortion care (CAC) has saved the lives of millions of women worldwide by reducing the needless deaths and injuries caused by unsafe abortions, explained Ipas President and CEO Elizabeth Maguire in a presentation today. Maguire was participating in a panel discussion on women’s health at the Clinton Global Initiative’s Annual Meeting in New York City.

The panel, titled “Reproducing Success: Game-changing Interventions in Women’s Health,” highlighted the leadership and success of organizations and individuals working to address challenges to women’s health with proven solutions and promising new ideas. Other experts on the panel included Milton Ochieng’, co-founder of Lwala Community Alliance, and Mark Feinberg, vice president of medical affairs and policy for Merck & Co.

“Comprehensive abortion care is a game-changing intervention for women,” Maguire told the audience. “Implemented by governments and NGOs in every region of the world, it enables women to prevent — and manage safely — unwanted pregnancy and determine their reproductive futures.”

Maguire spoke in detail about Ipas’s success in Nepal, where a liberalized abortion law took effect in 2002. Ipas has worked with the country’s Ministry of Health to improve and expand comprehensive abortion (CAC) services.

“Over 1,200 health-care providers have been trained in both public and private facilities, and nearly 700,000 Nepali women have received safe, legal abortion and contraceptive services,” Maguire said. “Nepal is just one example where CAC has been a major game-changer.”
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Girls and women is one of the three main focus topics at this year’s Annual Meeting, which takes place Sept. 20-22.

“Because young women are so often left behind, and suffer disproportionately from unsafe abortion, meeting their needs through youth-friendly information and services must be a high priority,” Maguire said. This is why Ipas made a CGI Commitment to Action this year to develop youth leadership for reproductive health in Eastern and Southern Africa.

“Our focus is on facilitating young women’s access to counseling, referral and high-quality reproductive health services, especially contraceptive and safe abortion care,” Maguire said of Ipas’s commitment.

Since they began, CGI Annual Meetings have brought together nearly 150 current and former heads of state, 18 Nobel Prize laureates, hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations, major philanthropists, directors of the most effective nongovernmental organizations, and prominent members of the media. These CGI members have made nearly 2,000 commitments, which have already improved the lives of 300 million people in more than 180 countries.

Source: http://www.ipas.org