Latest news with #familyplanning
The Independent
16 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
The Trump administration has just sent $10m worth of birth control to be burnt – rather than donate it as aid
A stock of $9.7m (£7.2m) worth of contraceptives, purchased by the US for use in low-income countries is now in transit to France to be burnt rather than distributed as aid. Governments and family planning providers in France and Belgium – where the items were held in a warehouse – have been scrambling to block the US from destroying the supplies. The products, which include contraceptive pills, implants and IUDs (intrauterine devices or coils) and have already been paid for by US taxpayers, are being sent to a specialist facility to be incinerated, at an additional cost of $167,000 (£124,000). That's despite offers from charities including MSI Reproductive Choices and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to take on the costs of donating the contraception. The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also said it was, 'exploring all possible avenues to prevent the destruction of these stocks, including their temporary relocation.' A ministry spokesperson said the department had acted as soon as the plans to destroy stocks of contraception, held in Geel in the north of the country, came to its attention - including sending formal diplomatic representations to the US embassy. French member of parliament Soumya Bourouaha asked in an official question on Monday for the prime minister to, 'do everything possible to save these contraceptive stocks and deliver them to the populations who need them'. However, the negotiations faltered, The Independent understands. The supplies are understood to now be in the process of being transferred between the two countries. Access to contraception can be life-saving: unintended pregnancies in countries with high maternal mortality and no access to safe abortion can be a death sentence. Research by the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group, has found roughly the $600m spent on family planning overseas by the US government in 2024 prevented 34,000 maternal deaths and over five million unsafe abortions. The contraception was purchased under a contract managed by development firm Chemonics, which has been partly cancelled as part of the Donald Trump 's deep cuts to foreign aid. Chemonics said it was unable to comment on the programme. Two family planning charities said they had been told by representatives of the project that the destruction of contraceptives was part of an effort to save money, despite the fact the supplies have already been paid for. Marcel Van Valen, IPPF's head of supply chain said the argument that the destruction of these products would come in at a lower cost was, 'utter nonsense' adding that the charity had offered to ' go and collect the products, to repack them [at] our cost and to do the distribution throughout the globe with our partners and even competitors in this space'. MSI's associate advocacy director Sarah Shaw said, 'This isn't about government efficiencies. This is about exporting an ideology that's harmful to women.' To give one example, she said, 'the annual contraceptive bill for Senegal for the entire country is $3 million dollars a year. So the contents of that warehouse could have met all of Senegal's contraceptive needs for three years. And instead we're going to see massive shortages. 'We're going to see Senegalese women dying of unsafe abortion, girls having to drop out of school'. A bill has been introduced by Democratic senators Jeanne Shaheen and Brian Schatz to prevent the destruction of the $9.7 of contraceptives specifically, as well as other medicines and food. It's not expected to pass however, as it would need Republican support. IPPF had previously raised concerns that an additional $2 million worth of condoms housed in a warehouse in Dubai were also in line to be destroyed. These were purchased under the HIV programme the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar). A State Department spokesperson described the birth control currently earmarked for destruction as 'abortifacient', and said it did not include condoms. They added that the Mexico City Policy, also known as the Global Gag Rule - first introduced in 1984 and brought back in by every Republican president since - prohibits providing assistance to foreign nongovernmental organizations that perform or promote abortion. It's not clear what the administration means by birth control that is abortifacient (an agent that causes abortions). A Democratic congressional aide whose team has visited the warehouse told The Independent their team who had visited the Belgian warehouse had seen only contraceptives, not abortion pills. The stocks they had seen were not approaching their expiry date. 'Contraceptives are saving tons of women from things like pregnancy after sexual assault or rape and saving abortions too,' the aide said. 'It's just not true that mifepristone or any of these abortion pills are in these warehouses. That's completely false.' In the past, conservative and religious groups in the US have falsely claimed contraceptives count as abortion agents. Dr Janet Barter, president of UK clinical membership body the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, explained an abortion was defined by when, 'there is a pregnancy and the abortion tablets or medications cause that pregnancy to be lost.' On the other hand, 'when contraception is used properly, there is no pregnancy. 'It's very straightforward with pills, implants, injections. They all work by stopping you from producing an egg. If there is no egg, there is no pregnancy,' she said, while in the case of the copper coil, it largely works by killing sperm before an egg could be fertilised. While family planning has come into the firing line, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) pointed out this was the latest in a series of destructions including 500 tons of emergency food aid and almost 800,000 mpox vaccines which had been allowed to expire while active outbreaks rage. 'The US government manufactured this problem,' said Avril Benoît, CEO of MSF USA. 'Destroying valuable medical items that were already paid for by US taxpayers does nothing to combat waste or improve efficiency. This administration is willing to burn birth control and let food supplies rot, risking people's health and lives to push a political agenda.'
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump administration to destroy birth control intended as aid
The Trump administration is set to destroy a large stockpile of U.S.-funded contraceptives stored at a warehouse in Belgium, which says it has 'explored all possible options to prevent the destruction.' The family-planning supplies, which include more than 50,000 intrauterine devices, nearly 2 million doses of injectable contraceptives, nearly 900,000 implantable contraceptive devices and more than 2 million packets of oral birth control, are worth about $9.7 million, according to an internal accounting in April, The Washington Post reported.
CBC
3 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Destined to be a boy mom? New study suggests baby's sex isn't always random
Ashley Clouthier says she hoped her first child would be a boy, so when he was, she was ecstatic. Clouthier, 39, of Almonte, Ont., grew up with an older brother, and wanted the same experience for the large family she was planning with her husband. And when their next child was also a boy, well, even better. Best buds close in age, she thought, and two big brothers for their brood of future children. But then their third child was a boy. And their fourth. Today, Clouthier's boys are ages 13, 12, 10 and four — and she says she's not planning to have any more children. But if she did? "I'm sure it would be a boy," she said with a laugh. There just might be some truth to that, according to a new study that suggests a child's sex at birth might not be entirely random. The study, published July 18 in the journal Science Advances, examined the maternal and genetic factors that influence the sex of offspring after several of the co-authors observed examples of friends, colleagues and family members who had produced either all boys or all girls, which, they say, raised questions about chance. Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health examined a dataset of 58,007 U.S. women with two or more singleton live births and found that "each family may have a unique probability of male or female births," they wrote in the study. "The data suggested that there may be families that are more likely than not to have only girls, [and] families that are more likely than not to have only boys," Dr. Jorge Chavarro, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology and one of the authors of the study, told CBC News. 'A weighted coin' Specifically, mothers with three or more children were more likely to have either all boys or all girls, which challenges the traditional view that the probability is "random and independent," or that you have a 50-50 chance of having a boy or a girl each pregnancy, the authors wrote. They calculated that, in families with three boys, the probability of having another boy was 61 per cent, and in families with three girls, the probability of having another girl was 58 per cent. "Akin to flipping a weighted coin with roughly a 60-40 probability," Chavarro explained. The study suggests that there are subtle biological or genetic influences at play, rather than pure chance, which is what we know to be true of most things in life, said Dr. Sebastian Hobson, the head of labour and delivery at Mount Sinai hospital in Toronto and a maternal fetal medicine specialist. Hobson, who is also the chair of obstetrics for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and who was not involved in the study, noted that the Harvard study is large and methodologically rigorous, but as with any study, the results should be interpreted with caution. The observed effects are small, he said, don't determine cause and effect, and the large population was predominantly white and U.S.-based, so can't be generalized globally. They also didn't gather any information about the biological fathers, he added. "Biology can nudge these probabilities slightly, but predicting a child's sex remains highly uncertain," Hobson said. "I think this is a great study, but it's not the be all and end all of sex determination." WATCH | Is gentle parenting too rough on parents? Why more parents are ditching the gentle approach 5 months ago 'Lose the birth lottery' Previous studies have found that parents are more likely to have a third child if their first two are the same sex, often in hopes the third child will be the opposite. And you only have to spend some time at school pickups, playgrounds and community pools to see that, well, it doesn't always work out that way. One recent study in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics refers to those who have three boys or three girls as parents who "lose the birth lottery." "If I got paid $1 for every time someone said, 'Are you going to try for a girl?' I'd be a millionaire," said Krystyna Recoskie, 48, also of Almonte, Ont., and a friend of Clouthier's. She has three boys, ages 15, 13 and 11. "For a while, it made me feel like I had failed. Like it was bad. How ridiculous is that?" she added. "I am blessed. I am complete." In the Harvard study, the researchers found that two-child families were actually more likely to be opposite sexes, or boy-girl, which they suggested implies that "couples are more inclined to stop reproducing when a balanced sex was reached." As for why some mothers were more likely to give birth to all-boys or all-girls, the authors suggested some women are at high risk of producing offspring of a specific sex due to factors affecting sperm survival. As well, procreation behaviour can be strongly influenced by the sex of previous children, they added. In addition, the authors found that older maternal age at first birth could be a risk factor for repeatedly giving birth to children of only one sex. This may be due to biological changes in the body, they said, like shorter follicular phase and lower vaginal pH. 'Four boys, poor you' Other studies have explored the idea of gender disappointment, or the feeling of sadness a parent may experience when their child's sex doesn't match with what they'd hoped for, and suggest it's more prevalent than we may think. "Gender disappointment in Western cultures is mostly related to the desire for 'gender balance' in the family — having a child of each gender to experience being a mother to sons as well as daughters," notes a 2023 study in the BJPsych Bulletin journal. Clouthier says she's never been disappointed about having four boys, and any negativity she experiences comes from other people. In a lot of ways, it's easier to have four kids all the same sex, she explained, between the hand-me-downs and gear they already have on hand. Birthday party themes can also overlap. And yes, it can get loud, and rough, and there are kid-sized holes in the drywall, but she notes her boys are also sweet, sensitive and cuddly. "I still get comments all time time, where people say, 'Four boys, poor you,'" Clouthier said. And I'll say, 'Yeah, lucky me!'"
Japan Times
6 days ago
- Health
- Japan Times
U.S.-funded contraceptives for poor nations to be burned in France: sources
U.S.-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10 million are being sent to France from Belgium to be incinerated after Washington rejected offers from the United Nations and family planning organizations to buy or ship the supplies to poor nations, according to two sources. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department confirmed on Wednesday that a decision had been taken to destroy the stock. The supplies have been stuck for months in a warehouse in Geel, a city in the Belgian province of Antwerp, following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to freeze U.S. foreign aid in January. They comprise contraceptive implants and pills as well as intrauterine devices to help prevent unwanted pregnancies, according to seven sources and a screenshot shared by an eighth source confirming the planned destruction. The U.S. government will spend $167,000 to incinerate the stocks at a facility in France that handles medical waste, the U.S. State Department confirmed. The spokesperson said that a preliminary decision had been made to destroy certain products from terminated U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracts. "Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal," the spokesperson said via email, adding that no condoms or HIV medications would be destroyed. U.S. lawmakers have introduced two bills this month to prevent the destruction of the supplies following Trump's decision to shut down USAID, but aid groups say the bills are unlikely to be passed in time to stop the incineration. The Belgian foreign ministry said Brussels had held talks with U.S. authorities and "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," it said in a statement on Tuesday. "Sexual and reproductive health must not be subject to ideological constraints," it added. The supplies, worth $9.7 million, are due to expire between April 2027 and September 2031, according to an internal document listing the warehouse stocks and verified by three sources. Sarah Shaw, Associate Director of Advocacy at MSI Reproductive Choices, said the nongovernmental organization had volunteered to pay for the supplies to be repackaged without USAID branding and shipped to countries in need, but the offer was declined by the U.S. government. "MSI offered to pay for repackaging, shipping and import duties but they were not open to that. ... We were told that the U.S. government would only sell the supplies at the full market value," said Shaw. She did not elaborate on how much the NGO was prepared to pay, but said she felt the rejection was based on the Trump's administration's more restrictive stance on abortion and family planning. "This is clearly not about saving money. It feels more like an ideological assault on reproductive rights, and one that is already harming women." She added that many countries in sub-Saharan Africa had relied on USAID for access to contraception and that the aid cuts would lead to a rise in unsafe abortions. The United Nations' sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, also offered to buy the contraceptives outright, three sources said, without disclosing the financial terms of the proposal. However, negotiations broke down, a source with knowledge of the talks said, in part due to a lack of response from the U.S. government. UNFPA declined to comment. One of the sources with knowledge of the issue said that the Trump administration was acting in accordance with the Mexico City Policy, an anti-abortion pact in which Trump reinstated U.S. participation in January. The pact forbids the U.S. government from contributing to or working with organizations providing funding or supplies that offer access to abortions. The source said there was no way for the U.S. government to ensure that UNFPA would not share the contraceptives with groups offering abortions, violating the Mexico City Policy. The State Department also said these were factors in their decision on Wednesday, and added that it had avoided $34.1 million in costs by cancelling other orders placed under the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden. The source also said the matter was complicated by the fact that the contraceptives in Belgium were embossed with the USAID trademark and Washington did not want any USAID-branded supplies to be rerouted elsewhere. UNFPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the concerns raised by the source. One of the two sources who revealed that the stocks of contraceptives were being trucked to France said it would likely take dozens of truckloads and at least two weeks to move the supplies out of the Geel warehouse, with a third source also confirming the scale of the operation. The French government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Chemonics, the contractor managing the supply chain for USAID's family planning program, declined to comment on the plans to destroy the supplies.
Reuters
7 days ago
- Health
- Reuters
US-funded contraceptives for poor nations to be burned in France, sources say
July 23 (Reuters) - U.S.-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10 million are being sent to France from Belgium to be incinerated, after Washington rejected offers from the United Nations and family planning organisations to buy or ship the supplies to poor nations, two sources told Reuters. The supplies have been stuck for months in a warehouse in Geel, a city in the Belgian province of Antwerp, following President Donald Trump's decision to freeze U.S. foreign aid in January. They comprise contraceptive implants and pills as well as intrauterine devices to help prevent unwanted pregnancies, according to seven sources and a screengrab shared by an eighth source confirming the planned destruction. The U.S. government will spend $160,000 to incinerate the stocks at a facility in France that handles medical waste, according to four of the sources with knowledge of the matter, following Trump's decision to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The U.S. State Department did not respond to a request for comment on the negotiations to save the contraceptives from destruction or the plans to incinerate them. U.S. lawmakers have introduced two bills this month to prevent the destruction of the supplies but aid groups say the bills are unlikely to be passed in time to stop the incineration. The Belgian foreign ministry said Brussels had held talks with U.S. authorities and "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," it said in a statement shared with Reuters on Tuesday. "Sexual and reproductive health must not be subject to ideological constraints," it added. The supplies, worth $9.7 million, are due to expire between April 2027 and September 2031, according to an internal document listing the warehouse stocks and verified by three sources. Sarah Shaw, Associate Director of Advocacy at MSI Reproductive Choices, told Reuters the non-profit organisation had volunteered to pay for the supplies to be repackaged without USAID branding and shipped to countries in need, but the offer was declined by the U.S. government. "MSI offered to pay for repackaging, shipping and import duties but they were not open to that... We were told that the U.S. government would only sell the supplies at the full market value," said Shaw. She did not elaborate on how much the NGO was prepared to pay, but said she felt the rejection was based on the Trump's administration's more restrictive stance on abortion and family planning. "This is clearly not about saving money. It feels more like an ideological assault on reproductive rights, and one that is already harming women." She added that many countries in sub-Saharan Africa had relied on USAID for access to contraception and that the aid cuts would lead to a rise in unsafe abortions. The United Nations' sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, also offered to buy the contraceptives outright, three sources told Reuters, without disclosing the financial terms of the proposal. However, negotiations broke down, a source with knowledge of the talks said, in part due to a lack of response from the U.S. government. UNFPA declined to comment. One of the sources with knowledge of the issue said that the Trump administration was acting in accordance with the Mexico City policy, an anti-abortion pact in which Trump reinstated U.S. participation in January. The pact forbids the U.S. government from contributing to or working with organisations providing funding or supplies that offer access to abortions. The source said there was no way for the U.S. government to ensure that UNFPA would not share the contraceptives with groups offering abortions, violating the Mexico City policy. The source also said the matter was complicated by the fact that the contraceptives in Belgium were embossed with the USAID trademark and Washington did not want any USAID-branded supplies to be rerouted elsewhere. UNFPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the concerns raised by the source. MSI, which says on its website that it fights for a future where everyone can access contraception and abortion, accused the State Department earlier this month of being "hellbent on destroying life-saving medical supplies, incurring additional costs for the U.S. taxpayer in the process." The State Department declined to comment. Abortion is a divisive issue in U.S. politics and was a major issue in the 2024 election won by Trump. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to eliminate a nationwide right to abortion, leaving abortion laws to each of the 50 states. One of the two sources who told Reuters the stocks of contraceptives were being trucked to France said it would likely take dozens of truckloads and at least two weeks to move the supplies out of the Geel warehouse, with a third source also confirming the scale of the operation. The French government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Chemonics, the contractor managing the supply chain for USAID's family planning programme, declined to comment on the plans to destroy the supplies. An internal USAID memo, sent in April, said a large quantity of contraceptives was being kept in warehouses and they should be "immediately transferred to another entity to prevent waste or additional costs".
