At Ipas Latin America and the Caribbean (Ipas LAC), we believe that new and effective ways of accessing sexual and reproductive rights can be developed through the use of technology, which is why we created the area of Technological Innovation in Safe Abortion Communication, a unit of technical expertise that provides and responds to information needs about this procedure for women and other people with the capacity to bear children, as well as health care providers and health care workers.
This area of our organization combines technology, health research and effective communication methods to help all people in Latin America exercise their sexual and reproductive rights. It also provides technical advice and examples of documentation, technological communication and information management methodologies to inspire other organizations to develop their own safe abortion support tools.
Although it was created in 2023, it has a history of approximately 10 years since Ipas LAC began experimenting with technological innovation processes, methodologies for the development of information systems and interaction design for the communication of safe abortion, launching its first e-learning platform, the first interactive tools and an application for health professionals.
A key milestone that prompted the creation of this area was the COVID-19 pandemic that was declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020. As hospitals and clinics became overcrowded, many women and others with gestational capacity were left without spaces to obtain information, accompaniment and access to safe abortion, so Ipas LAC optimized its technological tools and created more platforms so they could self-manage the termination of their pregnancies from home or safe spaces.
This unit of the organization has platforms classified into two categories: for women of reproductive age (focused on self-use and/or accompaniment) and for health professionals (focused on service provision).
For women of reproductive age
Among the platforms that are intended for women of reproductive age is the Misoprostol Safe Abortion Video, an audiovisual material launched in 2019 that explains step-by-step the use of misoprostol to manage a safe pregnancy termination procedure up to 13 weeks of gestation. Today it is ranked as the video with the most views in Spanish on YouTube when searching with the word “abortion”.
Also for women of reproductive age is the Sofia safe abortion chatbot, our first virtual assistant that offers information in Spanish generated from the information needs of women and people with gestational capacity. It contains information on safe abortion, contraception, and the prevention of unplanned and/or unwanted pregnancies. This resource was launched in January 2022 and, to date, has been accessed more than 14,000 times. Fifty percent of users are from Mexico, followed by Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, and the United States.
Another platform for women of reproductive age is the Interactive Abortion Map for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), an interactive website that provides legal and regulatory information on abortion in all Latin American countries, details on how to access an abortion procedure in those countries, and information on organizations that offer on-the-ground support.
The map has been viewed by more than 23,000 users (72% women). The most visited countries are Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia.
State-level microsites on legal abortion are another tool aimed at this segment of the population. These are websites created to disseminate information about the legal framework for abortion in states where it is more permissive. They contain information on the circumstances under which a legal abortion can be accessed; safe methods for performing the procedure, including self-management and support from networks; as well as referrals to clinics where the service can be requested. There are six states with microsites: Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, Baja California, Colima, Hidalgo, and Veracruz.
We also created the Sexual Violence and Safe Abortion Chatbot for Migrants—a technological innovation that offers automated conversations to expand access to safe abortion along Mexico’s main migration routes—for women of reproductive age, and the Directory of Misoprostol Sales Locations, a map on Google Maps and Tableau that identifies pharmacies and misoprostol sales locations in Mexico. This medication is completely safe, medically indicated, and authorized by the World Health Organization for terminating pregnancy.
For health professionals
On the other hand, the Platform for Health Professionals was created for health workers, a site with updated information based on scientific evidence, which helps to strengthen technical capacities to improve the quality of care for women and people with gestational capacity. We share clinical guidelines and protocols, regulatory frameworks and relevant information applicable to public health services and offer tools that facilitate the provision of quality health services, as well as materials to reduce stigma.
Also for this sector is the Safe Abortion Application, a tool to facilitate access to information on safe and legal abortion for health professionals in Mexico. This resource accumulates an average of 3.5 thousand downloads annually. The country with the highest number of downloads is Mexico, followed by Brazil, El Salvador, the United States and Honduras.
Another platform for health professionals is the Ipas LAC Virtual Classroom, a free space where we facilitate virtual training for multidisciplinary staff working in sexual and reproductive health services in Latin America. The platform offers capacity building for workers directly and indirectly involved in the sexual and reproductive health care of women and people with gestational capacity.