Trump administration weighs fate of $9M stockpile of contraceptives feared earmarked for destruction
BRUSSELS — President Donald Trump's administration says it is weighing what to do with family planning supplies stockpiled in Europe that campaigners and two U.S. senators are fighting to save from destruction.
Concerns that the Trump administration plans to incinerate the stockpile have angered family planning advocates on both sides of the Atlantic. Campaigners say the supplies stored in a U.S.-funded warehouse in Geel, Belgium, include contraceptive pills, contraceptive implants and IUDs that could spare women in war zones and elsewhere the hardship of unwanted pregnancies.
U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said Thursday in response to a question about the contraceptives that 'we're still in the process here in terms of determining the way forward.'
'When we have an update, we'll provide it,' he said.
Belgium says it has been talking with U.S. diplomats about trying to spare the supplies from destruction, including possibly moving them out of the warehouse. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Florinda Baleci told The Associated Press that she couldn't comment further 'to avoid influencing the outcome of the discussions.'
The Trump administration's dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which managed foreign aid programs, left the supplies' fate uncertain.
Pigott didn't detail the types of contraceptives that make up the stockpile. He said some of the supplies, bought by the previous administration, could 'potentially be' drugs designed to induce abortions. Pigott didn't detail how that might impact Trump administration thinking about how to deal with the drugs or the entire stockpile.
Costing more than US$9 million and funded by U.S taxpayers, the family planning supplies were intended for women in war zones, refugee camps and elsewhere, according to a bipartisan letter of protest to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio from U.S. senators Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski.
They said destroying the stockpile 'would be a waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars as well as an abdication of U.S. global leadership in preventing unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal deaths — key goals of U.S. foreign assistance.'
They urged Rubio to allow another country or partner to distribute the contraceptives.
Concerns voiced by European campaigners and lawmakers that the supplies could be transported to France for incineration have led to mounting pressure on government officials to intervene and save them.
The executive branch of the European Union, through spokesman Guillaume Mercier, said Friday that 'we continue to monitor the situation closely to explore the most effective solutions.'
The U.S. branch of family planning aid group MSI Reproductive Choices said it offered to purchase, repackage and distribute the stock at its own expense but 'these efforts were repeatedly rejected.' The group said the supplies included long-acting IUDs, contraceptive implants and pills, and that they have long shelf-lives, extending as far as 2031.
Aid group Doctors Without Borders said incineration would be 'an intentionally reckless and harmful act against women and girls everywhere.'
Charles Dallara, the grandson of a French former lawmaker who was a contraception pioneer in France, urged President Emmanuel Macron to not let France 'become an accomplice to this scandal.'
'Do not allow France to take part in the destruction of essential health tools for millions of women,' Dallara wrote in an appeal to the French leader. 'We have a moral and historical responsibility.'
___
Leicester reported from Paris. Matthew Lee contributed from Washington, D.C.
Lorne Cook And John Leicester, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
4 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
What to know about Legionnaires' disease, which has sickened dozens in New York City
FILE - This 1978 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Legionella pneumophila bacteria which are responsible for causing the pneumonic disease Legionnaires' disease. (Francis Chandler/CDC via AP, File) flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
Winnipeg Free Press
4 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ion Iliescu, Romania's first freely elected president after 1989 revolution, has died at 95
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Ion Iliescu, Romania's first freely elected president after the fall of communism in 1989, who later faced charges of crimes against humanity for his role in the bloody revolution, has died. He was 95. Iliescu, who held de facto military authority during the anti-communist revolt, assumed power after Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife Elena, were executed on Dec. 25, 1989. More than 1,100 people died during the uprising, 862 of them after Iliescu had seized power. He repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Twice re-elected, in 1992 and 2000, Iliescu had largely withdrawn from public life by 2017. In recent years, his health had declined. In 2019, he underwent heart surgery, and he was diagnosed with lung cancer in June. The hospital in the capital, Bucharest, where Iliescu had been receiving medical treatment since Jun. 9, said on Tuesday that he died at 3.55 p.m. local time after medics 'made all efforts to provide him the necessary care and treatment.' Romania's government also confirmed his death and extended its condolences to his family and those close to the former president. It added that it would announce plans for a state funeral soon. In a statement on its official website, Romania's Social Democratic Party, or PSD, which Iliescu founded, called it 'a very sad day for Romania.' 'A prominent figure of the Romanian Revolution and the history of contemporary Romania, Mr. President Ion Iliescu will remain for all of us a symbol of the politician and statesman,' the statement read. 'He had the courage to confront Ceausescu and his dictatorship, and directed Romania irreversibly on the Euro-Atlantic path.' 'He was a strong leader, loved by most, contested by others, as happens in democracy,' it added. In 2018, military prosecutors charged Iliescu with crimes against humanity for failing to prevent 'numerous situations' in which civilians were needlessly killed during the revolution. Prosecutors alleged he had spread false information through state media, creating a 'generalized psychosis' that fueled chaos and bloodshed. The charges against Iliescu, who served as a minister in the communist government until he was sidelined in 1971, refer to a five-day period during the uprising, after Ceausescu had fled Bucharest on Dec. 22, 1989. At the time of Iliescu's death, he had never been convicted, and the case remained open. In January this year, Iliescu's legal woes mounted when prosecutors charged him with crimes against humanity in a second case. Prosecutors allege he implemented policies that led to a violent crackdown on civilian protesters in Bucharest in 1990, who were demanding the removal of former communists from power. Iliescu had called on coal miners from the Jiu Valley to 'restore order' in the capital. At least four people were killed. Despite maintaining good relations with the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991, Romania became a member of the NATO military alliance in 2004 during his last presidential term. After his last term ended, he served as a lawmaker in the Social Democratic Party, Romania's most dominant political party since communism ended 35 years ago. For two decades after the revolution, Iliescu was Romania's most consequential political figure who helped define the country's new democratic institutions and its Constitution, said Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant. 'His legacy spans from the one to oust Ceausescu to being himself a break in Romania's development and transition to full functioning democracy and market economy,' he told The Associated Press. 'He was later accused by a growing number of Romanians of being the continuator of the Communist apparatus … trying to hold on to power in an authoritarian-communist style.' After Nicusor Dan's victory in Romania's tense presidential rerun in May, Iliescu congratulated the new pro-Western leader in a blog post, noting that Romania 'is going through a complex period' and faces economic, social, and geopolitical challenges. 'Romania needs coherence, dialogue and a firm commitment to strengthening democratic institutions and its European path,' he said. 'I am convinced that you will exercise this responsibility with dignity and a sense of duty to the nation.'
CTV News
4 minutes ago
- CTV News
RECALL: Dubai brand milk chocolate may contain Salmonella
People are being asked not to consume pistachio and knafeh milk chocolate by the brand Dubai, as it may contain Salmonella. The product (145 g, UPC 6 11834 51237 1, Code 225.174) was sold online in Quebec. Anyone who has the recalled item is asked not to consume, serve, use, sell or distribute it. 'Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the location where they were purchased,' states the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Food contaminated with Salmonella may not look or smell spoiled, but can still make you sick. Young children, pregnant women, elderly people and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable. Short-term symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Long-term complications may include severe arthritis. Anyone who becomes sick after consuming the recalled product is encouraged to contact a health care provider.
