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The Trump administration is planning to burn almost $10 million worth of contraceptives that were supposed to be sent to people in low-income countries.
The Independent reported on July 29 that the contraceptives, which were being stored in a warehouse in Belgium, were on their way to France to be burned. Destroying the contraceptives will reportedly cost U.S. taxpayers over $160,000.
The nonprofit MSI Reproductive Choices says the U.S. State Department rebuffed its offer to buy the products. The organization helps bring reproductive health services to people in more than a dozen countries around the world. The group says that the contraceptives represent almost 20 percent of the U.S.’s annual foreign contraceptive aid.
“The supplies have shelf lives extending well into 2027–2031 — yet, despite being fit for use, nearly a decade ahead of expiration, they are being destroyed,” the organization said in a statement on its website. “MSI Reproductive Choices offered to purchase, repackage, and manage logistics at our expense, ensuring the products reach those in need. These efforts were repeatedly rejected.”
Reuters reported that the Belgian foreign ministry also tried to stop the U.S. government’s plans. The ministry says it “explored all possible options [with U.S. government officials] to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation.”
“Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured,” the ministry said in a statement to Reuters. “Sexual and reproductive health must not be subject to ideological constraints.”
The contraceptives were reportedly purchased for USAID’s family programming and reproductive health programs. The Trump administration dismantled the agency earlier this year, although it officially closed on July 1. The agency’s duties have been transferred to the U.S. State Department. Two weeks after the agency shuttered, The Atlantic reported that the Trump administration planned to burn 550 tons of emergency food intended to go to children in Pakistan and Afghanistan, enough to feed 1.5 million children for a week. USAID had purchased the aid toward the end of Biden’s presidency, according to The Atlantic.
A State Department spokesperson told CNN that the contraceptives are “abortifacient birth control commodities from terminated Biden-era USAID contracts.” However, this does not appear to be true. CNN reports that a source showed them a list of the items which include copper IUDs, rod implants, birth control injections, birth control tablets and emergency contraception tablets.
Numerous public health and reproductive justice organizations have condemned the State Department’s actions. Doctors Without Borders called the plan to destroy life-saving contraception “unconscionable.”
In a joint statement, Planned Parenthood, MSI Reproductive Choices and other organizations said, “This decision is about imposing an anti-rights agenda on the entire world that denies women the choice of when and how many children to have, and denies people the opportunity to protect themselves against HIV and other STIs.”
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