At Ipas we’re fighting for a world where every person has bodily autonomy and can access the health care they deserve—including people who identify as LGBTQ+.

Evidence shows these individuals face high rates of stigma, discrimination and legal barriers to the care and information they need—leading to high rates of unintended pregnancy and abortion with unsafe methods. In Bolivia, for example, new research by Ipas and partners paints a deeply unacceptable picture:

• Alarming rates of unwanted pregnancies from sexual violence for trans men and gender-nonconforming people
• Commonly experienced verbal abuse, denial of care and fear of disclosing one’s identity to health providers
• Many people with diverse gender identities having undergone abortions with unsafe methods

“We’re arming people with the knowledge they need to make their own informed decisions about their bodies and health,” says Dr. Malena Morales, director of Ipas Bolivia.

And this is just the beginning. The Ipas Bolivia team and their local partners are planning what actions they’ll take next. Recommendations from this research call for training health providers to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ individuals and reforming laws and policies to explicitly protect the reproductive rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

This is what it can look like to build inclusive abortion access—a top priority for Ipas anywhere we work.