Publications by Theme

A Time for Action: Abortion Advocacy in Brazil and Peru, May 2010

In 2008, Pathfinder International sponsored a delegation of key Brazilian and Peruvian partners to Mexico City to support ongoing abortion advocacy project in Brazil and Peru. The delegation’s goal was to learn how their counterparts successfully brought about tremendous changes in the abortion law in the Federal District of Mexico (Mexico City), and to ignite and inform abortion activism within a core of committed advocates in Brazil and Peru. This paper explores the results of the delegation’s work.

Increasing Access to Safe, Comprehensive Abortion Care Services in Northern and Upper East Regions of Ghana: The Pathfinder International Community Approach, 2009

Pathfinder/Ghana's safe abortion project increases access to services through community advocacy, provider training, and facility upgrades. The project's successes and challenges are described in this paper.

Improving Abortion and Postabortion Care Services Using Community Survey Data in Ghana, 2009

This paper discusses the results of a community survey conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of men and women of reproductive age toward abortion in six districts of northern Ghana.

Causal Salud: Interrupción Legal de Embarazo, Ética y Derechos Humanos, 2008

A collaborative project of 14 NGOs, including Pathfinder, addressing interpretation of policy allowing legal interruption of pregnancy for health reasons.

Pathfindings: Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care Services in Africa, October 2008

A report on Pathfinder's Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care project in eight African countries. The project was implemented June 2007 to May 2008 with the goal of increasing access to PAC services that are responsive to adolescents' special needs.

Assessment of Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care Services: A Global Tool for Assessing and Improving Postabortion Care for Youth, October 2008

This tool is designed to help assessment teams, project managers, supervisors, and providers collect detailed information on the quality of Postabortion Care (PAC) services provided to adolescents at a given facility in order to make services more youth-friendly.

Saving Young Lives: Pathfinder International’s Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care Project, October 2008

Summarizing Pathfinder's recent experience implementing the Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care (YFPAC) Project in eight African countries, this report contains program descriptions, an overview of the process of making PAC services youth-friendly, key results, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations. 

Pathfinder Ghana Youth-Friendly PAC, July 2008

In 2007, Pathfinder International administered a one-year Youth-Friendly Postabortion Care (YF PAC) project in eight sub-Saharan African countries. This brief document reviews the challenges, results, and lessons learned in Ghana.

Pathfinder International's Postabortion Care Programs, 2007

Complications from unsafe abortion and from incomplete spontaneous abortion should be one of the most treatable and preventable causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, but stigma and fear of socail and legal repercussions associated with abortion prevent many women from seeking safe and effective postabortion care services. This paper reviews Pathfinder's approach to postabortion care programs.

Improved Access to Safe Abortion Care: Karnataka, India, 2007

Between June 2003 and June 2006, Pathfinder International undertook the Improved Access to Safe Abortion Care project (IASAC), in Karnataka, India, an innovative program designed to improve the quality of abortion training for medical students, and improve the skills of a significant number of current abortion providers at the community level. Over the course of the project, 21 faculty/master trainers were trained. They, in turn, trained a total of 318 providers—two practitioners in each of 49 towns in seven districts. Pathfinder has now trained 17 percent of the best-known abortion providers in the districts covered, who currently perform 60 percent of all abortions in these districts.

Improving Access to Safe Abortion Care and Services in Northern Karnataka, India, 2007

Pathfinder commissioned a baseline study prior to the implementation of the Improved Access to Safe Abortion Care project (IASAC) and a midterm assessment after about a year of implementation. The study sought to understand the extent to which medical providers offer abortion services and follow standard protocols for abortion services and the extent of community knowledge regarding abortion.

Clandestine Abortion in Peru, Facts and Figures, 2002

In Peru, where induced abortion has long been penalized by the government, clandestine abortion is a widespread public health concern. This document details a study undertaken by Pathfinder to generate information about the incidence of clandestine abortion in order to promote sexual and reproductive rights and inform the development of pertinent government policies.

Tapping Community Opinion on Postabortion Care Services, 2001

Access to Postabortion Care (PAC) services is an important strategy for decreasing maternal mortality. A key factor in making PAC accessible and effective is tapping community opinion to determine how reproductive health services can best serve women's needs. This document provides guidance in conducting a comprehensive and informative community survey to improve PAC services.

Addressing the Consequences of Unsafe Abortion: Insights from Pathfinder Program Experience, 2000

This report presents a review of Pathfinder's efforts to address the consequences of unsafe abortion around the world. It provides a broad picture of the range of programs undertaken, how they evolved, what their effects have been, and what has been learned from them.