Nearly $10 million in birth control intended for economically disadvantaged women will be burned, as ordered by the Trump Administration.
Supplies of birth control pills, IUDs and implants that have been in a warehouse in Geel, Belgium for three months are scheduled to be sent to France for incineration. The United States government will pay the $160,000 bill for the $9.7 million in birth control to be destroyed.
According to Reuters, the Belgium ministry was unable to reach an agreement with the Trump Administration despite having “explored all possible options to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation.”
“Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured. Nevertheless, Belgium continues to actively seek solutions to avoid this regrettable outcome. Sexual and reproductive health must not be subject to ideological constraints.”
The order to destroy the contraception comes after President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) soon after taking office in late January. USAID was tasked with handling foreign aid programs, such as fighting HIV and other diseases. The contraception does not expire until between April 2027 and September 2031.
The United Nations and nonprofits including MSI Reproductive Choices offered to take the contraception, but they and the Trump Administration could not agree on the cost. MSI Associate Director of Advocacy Sarah Shaw said that MSI offered to pay for shipping and import costs yet “the U.S. government would only sell the supplies at the full market value.”
“This is clearly not about saving money. It feels more like an ideological assault on reproductive rights, and one that is already harming women,” Shaw said.
American lawmakers introduced legislation in July to prevent the destruction of the contraception, but aid groups do not expect passage of the bills to happen before incineration.
One source told Reuters that the Trump Administration was following the Mexico City policy, which is an anti-abortion pact Trump reinstated in the U.S. upon his re-election in January. Per the policy, the U.S. government is prohibited from contributing to or working with organizations that provide funding or supplies for access to abortion. The Trump Administration could not be certain that the United Nations Population Fund Agency would not give the contraceptives to groups that offer abortions and violate the policy.
The contraceptives to be destroyed were also embossed with the now defunct USAID trademark, according to the source, and the Trump Administration did not want supplies labeled as the USAID brand to go anywhere.
In early July, MSI said the State Department was “hellbent on destroying life-saving medical supplies, incurring additional costs for the U.S. taxpayer in the process.”
In 2022, Roe v Wade, after nearly 50 years of providing reproductive protection for women, was reversed and the U.S. Supreme Court made it the responsibility of the 50 states to each decide what will be allowed legally. Abortion was a major issue during the 2024 presidential election which put then-Vice President Kamala Harris against Trump, who previously served as president from 2016 to 2020.
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Rebecca Barnabi
