Millions of dollars worth of birth control and contraceptives intended for refugees and vulnerable people have been destroyed by the Trump administration as part of their crackdown on international aid.
Around $9.7 million worth of contraceptive devices have been stuck in a warehouse in Belgium after the White House downsized the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and froze all foreign aid earlier this year, according to officials.
The contraceptives were incinerated at a facility in France that specializes in handling medical waste, at an additional cost of $167,000 to the taxpayer.
They were initially intended to be distributed primarily to young women in refugee camps and crisis zones in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
“Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal,” a State Department official told NPR, adding that no HIV medication or condoms are being destroyed.
According to internal documents seen by The New York Times, several humanitarian groups, including the Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, attempted to purchase the excess contraception and distribute it themselves, but were rebuffed by the administration.
In a statement to the Times, a USAID spokesman appeared to falsely claim that the contraceptives in question induced abortion.
“President Trump is committed to protecting the lives of unborn children all around the world,” the statement read. The administration will no longer supply abortifacient birth control under the guise of foreign aid.”
Despite the agency’s claims, USAID is prohibited by law from obtaining abortifacients, and none of the products stored at the Belgian warehouse were able to induce abortion, according to an inventory list obtained by the Times. Documents seen by the publication also indicate that State Department officials were made aware of this fact before issuing their statement.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen condemned the destruction of the contraceptives as “inhumane, wasteful, and out of step with American values” in a statement.
“Family planning programs are bipartisan and prevent millions of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and thousands of maternal deaths, especially among women in war zones and refugee camps who have nowhere else to turn,” she said.
“My staff saw firsthand that these supplies would have remained viable for years, and allies like Belgium and nongovernmental organizations offered to step in to help avoid such blatant waste. By moving forward with this decision, the administration has not only burned critical resources at additional expense to the taxpayer, but also exposed a broader, deeply troubling campaign to roll back women’s rights and access to basic health.”
The Daily Beast has contacted USAID for further comment.
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