US to burn $9.7 million worth of USAID-purchased contraceptives rather than deliver them to women overseas

CNN

4 days ago

The Trump administration is set to destroy $9.7 million worth of US-purchased contraceptives rather than deliver them to women overseas, following the dismantling of foreign assistance programs carried out by the US Agency for International Development, or USAID.
The 'preliminary decision' to destroy the USAID-procured birth control was confirmed by a State Department spokesperson, who said the cost of incinerating them would be $167,000.
The contraceptives have been housed in a warehouse in Geel, Belgium. The Belgian foreign ministry said it was engaged in diplomatic talks with the US embassy to work to find alternative solutions for the supplies.
The contraceptives are mostly long-lasting types of birth control, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and injectables, a US congressional aide told CNN. It is not clear exactly when the supplies will be destroyed, according to the aide.
'They have to double incinerate the products because they contain high levels of hormones and they don't want to risk leaking the byproducts out in the environment, which likely adds to the cost,' the congressional aide said. 'The Trump administration is quite literally burning taxpayer money.'
A list of the supplies, shared with CNN by another source with knowledge of the warehouse stock, shows that the contraceptives include copper IUDs, rod implants, birth control injections, and levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets. Some have USAID branding but the majority do not, according to the source's list.
Most of the products expire in 2028 or 2029, with the earliest expiration date among the products in April 2027, according to the list detailing the nearly 5 million items.
The US State Department spokesperson referred to the contraceptives to be destroyed as 'certain abortifacient birth control commodities from terminated Biden-era USAID contracts.'
There is controversy about whether to describe certain contraceptives as abortifacient, or causing abortion, due to the debate over whether life begins at the moment an egg is fertilized or at a later stage. Some birth control methods, including IUDs, may work by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg. However, IUDs primarily work by suppressing the release of eggs, or by preventing sperm from reaching an egg.
CNN has approached the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for comment.
'Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal. No HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed,' the spokesperson added. 'USAID avoided an additional $34.1 million in taxpayer costs by negotiating no-cost cancellations of pending orders placed under the Biden Administration.'
Responding to media reports that the contraceptives were set to be transferred to a French medical waste facility to be destroyed by the end of July, a diplomatic source in France told CNN that the contraceptives were being handled by private entities and they had 'no information concerning any transfers,' as of Thursday last week.
'We firmly support the Belgian authorities' commitment to find a solution in order to prevent the destruction of these contraceptives, so that they may reach women and men around the world who need them and are waiting for them,' the diplomatic source added. 'Access to quality sexual and reproductive health services and products is both a human rights and a public health issue.'
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) sent a staff member to the warehouse in Belgium as part of her effort to introduce legislation prohibiting 'the destruction of any such commodities unless all efforts to sell or donate them have been exhausted.' The staffer also found that the earliest expiration date for the contraceptives was 2027, with some of the supplies not expiring until 2031, meaning they could still be used for years to come.
'At a moment when the Trump administration has made devastating cuts to foreign assistance it is disappointing that the State Department would sign off on spending money to actually destroy paid-for commodities that would save lives and are waiting to be deployed,' Shaheen said in a statement. 'Food and family planning commodities are desperately needed in conflict affected countries, like Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo where famine is taking hold.'
Belgian foreign ministry spokeswoman Florinda Baleci told CNN the country was 'exploring all possible avenues to prevent the destruction of these stocks, including their temporary relocation.'
An organization called MSI Reproductive Choices said it and other funding partners had offered to pay for the shipping and repackaging of the USAID-branded supplies, but that the US government turned down the offer.
'We were not given a reason for why this offer was not accepted, but it became clear in conversations that it wouldn't be and that our efforts would be better spent finding alternative solutions to the contraception supplies gap,' said Grace Dunne, a spokeswoman for MSI, which works in 36 countries to provide reproductive healthcare, including abortion services, contraception and maternity care.
In response to questions about the offer from CNN, the State Department highlighted the so-called 'Mexico City policy,' which 'prohibits providing certain assistance – directly or indirectly – to foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning.'
That policy, which opponents call the 'global gag rule,' prevents non-governmental organizations that provide abortions, give counseling about abortions or advocate for safe access to abortion from receiving US funding.
The planned destruction of the contraceptives has sparked an outcry from other organizations, like Doctors Without Border (MSF), which raised concerns about contraceptive shortages in nations that were once reliant on supplies donated by USAID.
'In the communities served by MSF – whether impacted by conflict, disease outbreaks, natural and human-made disasters, or exclusion from health care – access to contraceptives is already constrained,' the organization said in a statement. 'Contexts that previously relied upon USAID funded contraceptive supplies are at a heightened risk of supply chain disruptions and stockouts.'
'MSF has seen firsthand the positive health benefits when women and girls can freely make their own health decisions by choosing to prevent or delay pregnancy – and the dangerous consequences when they cannot,' the chief executive of MSF USA, Avril Benoît, added.
MSF also cited reports saying that more USAID-branded contraceptives are being housed in a warehouse in the United Arab Emirates, but the organization said the US government's plan for those supplies is unknown.
A State Department spokesperson did not address a question about contraceptives warehoused in the UAE. CNN has reached out to the UAE government for comment.
At the beginning of July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the end of USAID, saying that future foreign assistance programs would align with administration policies and be administered by the State Department. The rapid dismantling of USAID, led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has seen thousands of foreign assistance programs slashed, including many that focused on lifesaving work.
A study published earlier this month by a leading medical journal, The Lancet, estimated that the USAID funding cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030. USAID funding was most likely to reduce mortality related to HIV/AIDS, followed by malaria, according to the study.