Accomplishments

Over our 20-year history, Ibis has built a significant body of policy-relevant research and a network of advocate, legal, and policy colleagues who ensure Ibis’s research results are at the forefront of efforts to protect and promote reproductive rights around the world. For a more comprehensive view of our work over the past 20 years, check out this visual chronicle of Ibis's impact.

  • In the United States, our work on telemedicine provision of medication abortion has demonstrated that telemedicine provision is safe and effective. Our research in Iowa also showed that telemedicine availability resulted in women accessing abortion services at earlier gestational ages and increased access to abortion care for women living in remote parts of the state. These findings have been critical in fighting state-level restrictions, and we hope that Ibis’s leadership in proving the effectiveness and impact of this service will encourage the expansion of this innovative model.
  • Ibis research focused on how to incorporate medication abortion into free, public sector clinics in South Africa provided key evidence for the South African National Department of Health, which decided to allow public clinics to introduce medication abortion. Our work also helped to get mifepristone onto South Africa’s Essential Medicines List for second-trimester abortion, which our research shows will shorten the duration of the procedure and increase its effectiveness, allowing more women to be served in public facilities.
  • Our groundbreaking work on reproductive health access for women in the US military brought attention to servicewomen’s contraceptive needs. We identified key barriers to reproductive health access for US servicewomen, which led to crucial policy changes on contraceptive access in the military, signed into law by President Obama.
  • We have forged strong partnerships with the South African government, advising several departments on critical policies. Recently, our staff worked with the South African Department of Health on their Adolescent and Youth Health Policy for 2015–2019; we are also engaged with the Department of Basic Education in finalizing their National Policy on HIV, STIs, and TB.
  • As a part of the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP), we have provided critical evidence and insights into the impact of state-level abortion restrictions and family planning reductions. Working with colleagues at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and University of California, San Francisco, we have created a unique research infrastructure that has generated data that directly responds to new abortion restrictions in the state, documenting increased wait times and distances women must travel to get an abortion.

Since our founding in 2002, we have seen our commitment to rigorous research and women’s priorities lead to positive, concrete change. Ibis continues to generate evidence to push forward strong, women-focused policies and effective, high-quality reproductive health information, services, and product innovations. To stay up to date with our latest news and accomplishments, you can follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

20 years of impact

 

2020 highlights

10th anniversary report