$9.7M worth of USAID contraceptives are going up in smoke

What you probably already know: Millions of women and girls worldwide lost access to contraceptive care when the Trump administration dismantled the United States Agency for International Development and froze foreign aid earlier this year. This abrupt shift in U.S. policy left stockpiles of humanitarian supplies in limbo. One such cache — $9.7 million worth of family planning products, including contraceptives bound for low-income countries — spent months stuck in a warehouse in Belgium. The State Department plans to destroy the taxpayer-funded contraceptives, rather than deliver them to girls and women in need.

Why? The “abortifacient” contraceptives in question, including long-lasting forms of birth control like IUDs and implants, were purchased under “terminated Biden-era USAID contracts,” a State Department spokesperson said. The U.S. planned to spend $167,000 to have them incinerated at a facility in France by the end of July. The earliest expiration date for the contraceptives was 2027, and others weren’t marked to expire until 2031. No condoms or HIV drugs were to be destroyed.

What it means: USAID family planning and reproductive health programs supported millions of people worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Access to contraceptives empowers women and girls to control their reproductive health, giving them the chance to pursue education and careers, avoid unsafe abortions, improve their socioeconomic status, and ultimately bolster gender equality and autonomy. The contraceptives marked for an incinerator were originally intended to reach conflict areas and refugee camps in regions like sub-Saharan Africa, home to the highest fertility rates in the world. They could have helped between 650,000 and 950,000 people prevent unwanted pregnancies, Chelsea Polis, principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, told NPR.

What happens next: Lawmakers and activists worldwide have sharply criticized the decision to destroy the contraceptives, and the U.S. has rejected offers from several humanitarian groups to buy them, citing an abortion-related policy. It’s unclear whether the contraceptives have indeed been destroyed at this point. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday the situation was fluid, adding, “We recognize the issues, but we also, of course, are committed to policy that Americans care about.” The agency explained that the cost to destroy the items was higher because a specialized approach was needed to ensure no hormonal materials would leak into the environment, and pointedly mentioned that USAID managed to save more than $34 million in taxpayer dollars by canceling pending orders of contraceptives placed during the Biden presidency.