U.S. Authorities Intend to Dismantle Birth Control Resources for the Underprivileged
In a controversial move, the US government has decided to destroy nearly $10 million worth of US-funded contraceptives stored in Belgium, with the incineration process scheduled to take place by the end of July 2025. This decision, which has sparked significant international controversy and opposition from various aid organizations and governments, involves contraceptives that are well within their expiration dates and could be used to address global contraceptive shortages.
Aid organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), MSI Reproductive Choices, the United Nations Population Fund, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) have criticized the US government's decision to proceed with destruction rather than redistribute the supplies to countries in need. Offers to pay for shipping and distribution by these organizations were refused by US authorities.
The IPPF, in a bid to save the contraceptives, offered to transport, repack, and distribute them at no cost to the US government, but their offer was rejected. The US-funded contraceptives, worth around €34 million, are currently stuck in various depots worldwide, and it is unknown what the government plans to do with them.
The destruction plan requires costly specialized incineration, including double incineration owing to the hormonal content of the contraceptives, at an approximate cost of over $150,000. This spending has been labeled inefficient and irresponsible by critics.
Political voices in the US Senate, including Jeanne Shaheen and Lisa Murkowski, have opposed the destruction, describing it as a policy failure. Humanitarian and advocacy groups describe the move as reckless and indifferent to global health needs, warning that it undermines progress made in women's reproductive health worldwide.
On the European side, both France and Belgium are under pressure to prevent the destruction. France has publicly supported Belgium’s efforts to block the US plan to incinerate the contraceptives, monitoring the situation closely and showing signs of opposition to the destruction process.
The contraceptives, worth $9.7 million (€8.3 million) and stored in a warehouse in Geel, Belgium, include implants, pills, and intrauterine devices with the earliest expiration date in 2027. HIV medications and condoms will not be destroyed.
The drastic cuts to family planning programs by USAID sparked outrage among aid organizations worldwide. Access to contraception is limited in the areas where Doctors Without Borders is active. The IPPF has urged the governments of France, Belgium, and the US to find a way to save the contraceptives.
In response to the international outcry, U.S. lawmakers have introduced two bills this month to prevent the destruction of aid supplies following Trump's decision to shut down USAID. Belgium continues to actively seek solutions to avoid the destruction of the contraceptives.
This decision by the US government has elicited strong negative reactions globally and calls for urgent intervention to avert the destruction of valuable reproductive health resources. The destruction of these contraceptives, a "reckless and harmful act" according to Doctors Without Borders, puts "the health and lives of people at risk to advance a political agenda."
- The destruction of US-funded contraceptives worth approximately $10 million, despite being within their expiration dates and capable of addressing global shortages, has sparked international controversy and opposition from aid organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), MSI Reproductive Choices, the United Nations Population Fund, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF).
- Insisting on the destruction of these contraceptives, instead of redistributing them, has been criticized as irresponsible, with the IPPF offering to transport, repack, and distribute them at no cost to the US government but receiving a rejection.
- This decision is deemed inefficient and wasteful, considering the costly specialized incineration required, estimated to cost over $150,000, and the potential impact on mental health and women's health, as well as general health-and-wellness, given the high demand for contraceptives in many regions worldwide.
- The international community, including political voices in the US Senate, humanitarian groups, and the European Union, have expressed strong concerns over the destruction of these contraceptives, seeing it as a policy failure and a reckless move that undermines progress made in women's reproductive health and global health-and-wellness.
